iiiiii^i»iippf?iit?^ 


M6  A4 


COLLECTIONS 


Georgia  Historical  Society, 


Vol..   VIT. 


PAHT  I 


LETTERS  OF  MONTIANO 
SIEGE  OF  ST.  AGUSTINE 


Published  by 

Georgia   Historical  Society 

Savannati^  Ga. 


Savannah,  Ga. 
Savannah  Morning  News, 

1909. 


A4 


LfURARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  F  \?nA'l.A 


NOTE  BY  THK  TRANSLATOR 


The  letters,  whose  translation  follows,  are  contained  in  a 
folio  volnme,  being  copies  made  in  St.  Augustine  in  1844  by 
Antonio  Alvarez,  Keeper  of  the  Public  Archives,  from  the 
originals  under  his  care.     These  originals  must  themselves 
have  been  retained  copies.     As  the  last  letter  is  numbered 
248,  and  there  are  but  36  in  this  collection,  it  is  clear  that 
either  a  selection  has  been  made,  or  else  that  the  other  let- 
ters bore  upon  subjects  not  sufificiently  important  or  inter- 
esting to  merit  copying.     From  internal  evidence,  however, 
furnished  in  one  or  two  instances,  it  appears  that  one  or  two 
despatches    have    been    overlooked,    supposing    always    that 
the  originals  were  still  in  existence.     Letter  No.  198,  is  not 
in  Alvarez's  handwriting,  and  seems  to  have  been  inserted 
or  copied  after  all  the  others,  as  though  by  a  person  who 
objected  to  its   omission.     It  is  not  certified  to  be  a  true 
copy,  as  are  all  the  others ;  but  a  note  sets  forth  that  it  was 
copied  from  the  original  MS.     The  insertion  of  this  partic- 
ular  letter,   coupled   with   the   internal   evidence   mentioned, 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  collection  might  have  been 
enlarged  with  profit.     Each  letter,  with  the  exception  noted, 
is  accompanied  by  Alvarez's  elaborate  certificate  in  English 
(see  first  and  second  letters)  and  stamped  with  his  seal  as 
keeper  of  the   Public  Archives.     It  has  not  been  thought 
v^'orth  v/hile  to  reproduce  this  certificate  with  each  letter  in 
this  translation.     And  smiliarly  of  the  elaborate  and  formal 
close   of  each  letter,  in  which  the  author  begs  his   corres- 
pondent to  accept  "his  assurances  of  faithful  and  afifection- 
ate  obedience  Avith  prayer  that  our  Lord  may  keep  his  Ex- 
cellency many  years,  and  kisses  his  hand ;"  inserted  once  or 
twice,  the  more  frequent  repetition  of  these  formulas  would 
prove  tiresome,   and   so   they  are   omitted.       Spanish   and 
English    (Georgia    and    Carolina)    Colonial    place-names    in 
general,  are  left  as  Don   Manuel  wrote  them,  and  so  of 
personal  names.     All  these  letters  are  addressed  to  Don  Juan 
Francisco   de   Guemes   y   Horcasitas,   Governor   General   of 
Cuba.     When    the    word    "place''    occurs    in    the    following 
I)ages,  it  must  be  understood  as   representing  the   Spanish 
plaza,  that  is,  a  fortified  position  with  its  own  and  depen- 
dencies. C.  De  W.  W. 
Washingon,  July  29,  1908. 


INTRODUCTION. 


For  many  years  the  Georgia  Historical  Society  lias  had 
amoHg  its  unpublished  manuscripts  a  bound  volume  of  letters 
written  in  Spanish,  pertaining  to  the  siege  of  St.  Augustine,  Flor- 
ida, by  General  James  Oglethorpe  in  1740.  These  letters  were 
originally  written  by  Don  Manuel  de  Montiano,  the  Spanish  officer 
then  in  charge  of  the  military  forces  at  St.  Augustine,  to  his  snpe 
rior  officer,  Don  Juan  Francisco  de  Guemas  y  Horcasitas,  Gov- 
ernor General  of  Cuba. 

From  the  minutes  of  the  Society  dated  September  11,  1843,  it 
appears  that  attention  had  been  called  to  the  original  letters  ''on 
hearing  a  letter  from  Mr.  Brown,  of  St.  Augustine,"  and  it  is  here 
further  stated,  "and  which  Diary  is  still  preserved  in  the  archives 
office  at  St.  Augustine."  A  recent  inquiry  of  the  St.  Augustine  His- 
torical Society  shows  that  the  original  letters  referred  to  in  this 
communication  ar»  not  now  in  its  possession,  and  none  now  con- 
nected with  the  Society  knows  anything  of  their  whereabouts. 

It  was  resolved,  "That  the  corresponding  secretary  be  directed 
to  ascertain  at  what  cost  a  verbatim  copy  of  the  original  docu- 
ment in  the  Spanish  language  can  be  obtained;  and  that  said  sec- 
retary have  full  power  to  act  in  the  matter." 

On  November  28,  1843,  Wm.  B.  Hodgson,  Esq.,  a  public- 
spirited  citizen  of  Savannah,  and  afterwards  a  great  benefactor 
of  the  Society,  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  I.  K.  Tefift, 
the  corresponding  secretary: 

"It  affords  me  pleasure  to  record  my  acknowledgments  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hawkes,  lately  of  New  York  and  now  of  Holly  Springs, 
Mississippi,  for  the  advantage  of  possessing  this  Spanish  manu- 
script. 

"During  the  learned  Doctor's  visit  to  St.  Augustine  he  obtained 
a  copy  of  these  official  letters  from  the  public  archives  of  East 
Florida.  The  truth  and  correctness  of  the  copy  is  attested  by 
Don  Antonio  Alvarez,  keeper  of  those  archives.  The  copy,  which 
I  send  you,  is  made  from  that  of  Dr.  Hawkes,  and  whenever  the 
wish  of  the  Society  may  be  expressed,  I  should  have  a  sincere 
pleasure  in  furnishing  a  translation  of  these  Spanish  documents." 

For  some  reason  Mr.  Hodgson  never  furnished  the  promised 
translation,  and  not  until  the  year  1908  were  steps  taken  to  have 
these  letters  translated.  The  Society  was  fortunate  in  securing 
for  this  purpose  the  services  of  Major  C.  DeWitt  Willcox.  a  native 
Georgian,  now  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  whose  scholarly  attainments 
and  military  training  fitted  him  specially  for  this  work,  and  to  him 
the  thanks  of  the  Society  are  due  for  this  important  contribution 
to  the  history  of  our  state. 

It  has  been  thought  best  to  include  in  tliis  volume  several 
maps  and  illustrations  which  will  throw  much  light  up  the  opera- 
tions against  St.  Augustine  by  Oglethorpe.  The  plan  of  the  old 
fort  of  San  Marco  is  a  photographic  reproduction  of  a  tracing  made 
by  the  United  States  government  in  Spain  in  1884,  the  tracing 
being  kindly  furnished  by  Capt.  George  R.  Spalding,  in  charge 
of  the  United  States  Engineer's  Office  in  Jacksonville.  Fla.  The 
other  maps  are  copied  from  originals  in  possession  of  Mr.  W.  J. 
DeRenne,  of  Wormsloe.  The  thanks  of  the  Society  are  specially 
due  to  this  public-spirited  gentleman  for  his  generous  aid  in  placing 
at  its  disposal  the  facilities  of  his  rare  and  excell&nt  collection  of 
Georgia  history. 


Most  of  these  maps  are  self-explanatory,  but  the  dates  of  some 
of"  them  arc  inferred  from  a  close  examination  of  the  origmals 
"The  Plan  of  the  Harbour  of  St.  Augustine  in  the  rrovincc  of 
Georgia  Composed  and  Published  from  Surveys  Deposited  in  the 
Office  of  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lords  of  Irade,  by  J.  h.  VV. 
Dcs  Barres.  Ksqr.."  was  probably  made  about  1777- 

The  map.  showing  "South  Carolina,  Florida  and  1  he  Western 
or    Xtlantick  Ocean."  bears  upon  the  original  the  following  legend: 

"The  Original  of  this  Map  was  drawn  by  Col.  P.arnevelt,  who 
Commanded  several  Expeditions  against  the  Indians  in  the  Time 
of  the  Indian  War,  as  also  served  under  Col.  Moore  in  all  his 
Kvpeditions  in  the  said  War.  It  is  highly  approved  of  by  Lieu- 
tenant Governour  Bull,  who  is  allowed  to  be  the  best  Judge  of 
Carolina  and  the  Indian  Countrys  round  it  of  any  Person  now  in 
the  Province." 

The  date  of  this  map  is  not  given,  but  from  data  given  by  the 
map  itself  it  could  not  have  been  made  l)cfore  1719. 

The  future  historian  of  this  period  will  hnd  in  addition  lo  the 
accounts  in  the  well-known  histories  of  Georgia  the  following 
references  suggestive  and  helpful.  All  of  these  books  are  in  the 
library  of  Mr.  W.  J.  DcRenne  at  Wonnsloe,  and  some  of  them 
cannot  be  found  elsewhere. 

"The  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Both  Plouses  of  Assembly 
of  the  Province  of  South  Carolina.  Appointed  to  Enquire  into 
the  Causes  of  the  Disappointment  of  Success,  in  the  late  Expe- 
dition against  St.  Augustine,  Under  the  Command  of  General 
Oglethorpe."     I743- 

"A  History  of  the  American  People,"  by  Woodrow  Wilson, 
Vol.  2,  Page  69. 

"Life  and  Character  of  Oglethorpe,"  an  address  delivered 
before  the  Literary  Societies  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  August 
2,   i860,  by   Rev.   C.  W.   Howard. 

"Tlie  Making  of  Georgia,"  two  addresses  by  Hon.  Walter  G. 
Charlton,  of  Savannah. 

"A  Description  of  East  Florida,  with  a  Journal  kept  by  John 
Bartram,  of  Philadelphia,  Botanist  to  His  Majesty  for  the  Flori- 
das,"  MDCCLXIX. 

"An  Account  of  tha  First  Discover^',  and  Natural  Ilistorj'  of 
Florida,"  by  William  Roberts,  London.  MDCCLXIII. 

"The  Spanish  Hireling  Detected:  Being  a  Refutation  of  the 
Several  Calumnies  and  Falsehoods  in  the  late  Pamphlet,  Entitled, 
"An  Impartial  Account  of  the  Late  Expedition  Against  St. 
Augustine  under  General  Oglethorpe.'  by  George  Cadogan,  Lieu- 
tenant in  General  Oglethorpe's  Regiment."  London,  MDCCXLIII. 

"An  Impartial  Account  of  the  late  Expedition  against  St. 
.\ugustme  under  General  Oglethorpe,  occasioned  by  the  Suppres- 
sion of  the  Report,  made  by  a  Committee  of  the  General  Assembly 
in  South  Carolina,  transmitted,  under  the  Great  Seal  of  that 
Province,  to  their  Agent  in  England,  in  orded  to  be  printed."    1742. 

"Newest  and  Most  Correct  Report  of  the  Scenery  of  Georgia 
in   English  America."    1746.    (In  German.) 

The   ' - 

d 
t 
upon   this  heroic  period  of  our   state's   history 

OTIS  ASH  MORE, 
GEORGE  J.    BALDWIN, 
U.  H.  McLAWS. 
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LETTERS  OF 

DON  MANUEL  DE  MONTIANO 

Siege  of  St.  Augustine 


No.  I. 

Sir:  Diego  de  Espinosa  (one  of  the  most  respected  cit- 
izens of  this  presidio)  has  informed  me  that  there  came  to 
this  point  last  year,  one  Don  Carlos  Dempsis,  an  English- 
man, second  in  command  of  the  settlements  of  New  Georgia. 
As  he  wished  to  return  to  them,  Don  Francisco  del  iMorai 
gave  him  permission  to  go  overland,  directing  the  adjutant 
Don  Manuel  de  Arze,  who  is  now  here,  to  accompany  him. 
This  officer  allowed  the  Englishman  to  see  a  fort  built  by 
the  said  Espinosa  at  his  own  expense  on  his  stock  farm 
about  six  leagues  from  here,  and  mounting  five  falconets, 
and  to  sleep  one  night  on  the  place.  Now  this  Englishman 
is  an  Engineer,  and  is  the  first  of  his  nation  to  see  the  said 
fort,  the  only  defense  in  its  territory.  Moreover  the  same 
privilege  was  later  granted  by  Don  Manuel  to  two  other 
Englishmen.  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  report  these  facts 
to  your  excellency  such  as  they  are,  in  order  that  they 
may  not  be  hidden  from  your  superior  penetration.  I  beg 
Your  Excellency  to  honor  me  with  frequent  advice  to  the 
betterment  of  my  poor  abilities  in  your  behalf. 

May  God  keep  Your  Excellency  many  years,  as  I  desire, 
and  is  proper. 

Saint  Augustine,  in  Florida,  March  22,  1737. 

Your  Excellency's  grateful  and  obliged  servant,  who 
kisses  your  hand, 

Don  Manuel  Joseph  de  Justis. 
To  Senor  Don  Juan  Francisco  de  Guemes  y  Horcasitas : 

I,  Antonio  Alvarez,  Keeper  of  the  Public  Archives  of 
East  Florida,  do  hereby  certify  the  foregoing  to  be  a  true 
and  correct  transcript  from  a  book  in  which  are  recorded  the 
official  letters  addressed  by  Don  Manuel  Joseph  de  Justis 
Governor  of  East  Florida,  to  Don  Juan  Francisco  de  Guemes 
y  Horcasitas,  Captain  General  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  be- 


Letters  of  Montiano 


tween  the  22d  March,  1837  (  sic)  and  the  14th  August  of  the 
same  year,  which  book  belongs  to  the  Archives  under  my 
charge. 


Witness  my  hand  and  seal  of 
office  at  the  City  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, territory  of  Florida, 
this  twelfth  day  of  February, 
A.    D.    one    thousand    eight 


■jjtlV  hundred  and  forty-four. 


(Signed)  Ajitonio  Alvarez, 
K.  P.  A. 


Letter  No.  2. 

My  present  news  compels  me  to  send  Pedro  de  Alcantara 
in  his  schooner  and  to  beg  for  Your  Excellency's  protec- 
tion, so  that,  acquainted  with  the  case,  and  with  our  present 
necessities  as  douDtless  repored  to  Your  Excellency  by 
Don  Manuel  de  Justis,  you  may  be  pleased  to  take  the  nec- 
essary steps  to  put  this  position  in  a  state  of  defense  against 
the  intentions  of  the  English  to  seize  it  with  its  provinces.  An 
offer  to  this  end  has  been  made  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
in  his  Parliament  by  Milord  Ogletor,  a  member  of  the  same. 
He  declared  from  his  seat  that  this  place,  with  Apalachee 
and  its  provinces  would  be  more  useful  to  Great  Britain 
than  all  its  remaining  Colonies  and  Islands  in  America. 
For  in  possession  of  them,  he  would  guarantee  that  no  ship 
of  ours  could  pass  through  the  channel*  and  that  conse- 
quently we  could  not  enjoy  the  treasures  produced  by  the 
Kingdoms  of  Peru  and  New  Spain  without  his  consent.  This 
offer  having  been  favorably  received,  he  was  made  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  all  the  Colonies,  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica 
and  others,  and  lord  of  land  and  sea,  receiving  at  the  same 
time  125  #**  [thousand]  dollars  for  fortifications,  and  also 
480  regular  troops  for  the  campaign  against  these  Provinces. 


•  Florid*  Straight.    Tr. 

••  Th  s  »ymlx)I     atf     is  taken  to  represent  </u>i/,srtrtt/.     Tr. 


Siege  of  St,  Augustine 


And  although  Parliament  opposed  any  invasion  during  the 
peace,  yet  on  combining  the  news  in  question  with  that 
just  brought  me  (for  these  matters  are  known  also  in 
Apalachee)  by  the  Cacique  Sacafaca  of  the  town  of  Chal- 
acarHche,  it  is  evident  we  should  not  overlook  what  the 
English  have  done  at  other  times.  The  Cacique  who  comes 
expressly  and  voluntarily  from  these  distant  provinces, 
warns  me  that  the  Indians  attached  to  the  English  were 
descending  in  small  bodies  to  annoy  those  regions,  and  that 
the  Caciques  were  ordered  by  the  English  to  assemble  so 
as  to  treat  of  various  matters.  We  must  to-day,  therefore, 
distrust  their  efforts,  intensified  as  they  are  by  the  pride  of 
Milord  Ogletor,  who  finds  himself  supported  by  the  peers 
of  the  Kingdom  for  the  sole  purpose  of  acquiring  glory  in 
these  conquests.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  he  will  act 
with  the  greatest  firmness  by  sea  and  land;  and  unfortu- 
nately for  us,  his  slightest  effort  will  be  successful,  for  we 
have  not  here  the  means  to  resist  a  moderate  force.  Our 
case  is  much  worse  at  sea ;  for,  by  holding  the  mouth  of 
the  inlet  with  one  or  two  frigates,  our  communications  are 
completely  cut  on  this  side,  and  our  supplies  stopped.  They 
will  succeed  in  their  plan,  a  fact  of  which  they  are  well  aware, 
as  they  are  also  of  the  deplorable  condition  of  this  place, 
seeing  it  has  so  few  troops  for  its  defense.  I  hope,  there- 
fore, that  Your  Excellency  will  heed  these  reasons  and  also 
the  fact  that  the  preservation  of  this  post  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  security  of  all  America,  and  so  be  pleased 
to  take  the  promptest  measures,  which  I  leave  to  the  discre- 
tion and  judgment  of  Your  Excellency.  Your  Excellency's 
knowledge  of  the  profession,  acquired  by  long  and  distin- 
guished service,  will  enable  you  to  realize  what  is  needed 
here,  being,  without  further  detail,  everything.  For  Your 
Excellency  must  know  that  this  castle*,  the  only  defense  here, 
has  no  bombproofs  for  the  protection  of  the  garrison,  that 
the  counterscarp  is  too  low,  that  there  is  no  covered  way, 
that  the  curtains  are  without  demi-lunes,  that  there  are  no 
other  exterior  v^orks  to  give  them  time  for  a  long  defense ; 
but  that  we  are  as  bare  outside  as  we  are  without  life  in- 
side, for  there  are  no  guns  that  could  last  24  hours,  and  if 
there  were,  we  have  no  artillerymen  to  serve  them. 

I  have  ordered  4,000**  stakes  to  be  cut  for  the  construc- 


*  Fort  San  Marco.    Tr. 

**  In  the  original  4S'       Tr. 


to  Letters  of  Montiano 


tion  of  the  covered  way,  with  the  full  knowledge  that  the 
work  will  be  imperfect  by  reason  of  the  low  height  of  the 
counterscarp ;  but  as  raising  it  would  be  a  long  and  costly 
task  involving  much  earth  work,  I  shall  apply  myself  to 
such  repairs  as  are  immediately  practicable  and  of  least 
cost.  For  1  have  no  other  funds  than  the  small  quantity 
of  silver  bullion  turned  over  to  Don  Francisco  del  Moral, 
and  although  I  might  wish  to  run  the  wall  from  the  castle 
to  the  Cubo***,  and  raise  here  a  bulwark  to  meet  the  attack 
they  might  direct  from  this  point  against  the  castle,  yet  I 
cannot  do  everything,  partly  from  lack  of  means  and  partly 
from  lack  of  workmen,  convicts  and  slaves  to  do  the  work. 
If  Your  Excellency  should  resolve,  as  is  my  hope,  to  send 
troops,  workmen,  some  money,  slaves  or  exiles,  and  an 
Engineer  to  direct  operations,  let  them  also  bring  a  suffi- 
ciency of  supplies,  for  while  there  is  no  doubt  the  English 
will  cut  off  our  bread  upon  noticing  anything  unusual,  there 
is  just  as  little  doubt  that  the  plans  and  pride  of  Milord 
Ogletor  will  come  to  naught,  and  that  if  we  have  time  to 
prepare  for  defense,  we  shall  rob  him  of  all  hope. 

The  two  spies  agree  on  the  qews  herewith,  and  recom- 
mend strongly  that  we  should  not  neglect  our  preparations 
for  Milord  Ogletor  was  expected  at  the  latest  all  throngh 
October,  and  his  boldness  would  trample  on  all  obstacles. 
This  is  all  I  have  to  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  Your  Excel- 
lency whom  I  shall  always  faithfully  serve,  desiring  that 
our  Lord  may  preserve  Your  Excellency  many  happy  years. 

Florida,   November   ii,   1737. 

Your  Excellency's  most  faithful  aflfectionate  servant, 

Don  Manuel  de  Montiano. 
For  Don  Juan  Francisco  de  Guemes  y  Horcasitas. 


I,  Antonio  Alvarez,  Keeper  of  the  Public  Archives  of 
East  Florida,  do  hereby  certify  the  foregoing  to  be  a  true 
and  correct  transcript  from  a  book  in  which  are  recorded 
the  official  letters  addressed  by  Don  Manuel  de  Montiano 
Governor  of  East  Florida,  to  Don  Juan  Francisco  de  Guemes 
y  Horcasitas,  Captain  General  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  between 


•*♦  Ctlbo  is  a  round  fortified  tower  on  the  wall  of  a  medieval  fort  or  castle.   There 
mus'  have  been  such  a  tower  at  Saint  Augustine,  known  as  the  Cubo.     Tr. 


isiege  of  Si.  Augustine 


the  30th  September,  1737,  and  the  ist  of  February,  1741,* 
which  book  belongs  in  the  Archives  under  my  charge. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal  of 


office  at  the  City  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, territory  of  Florida, 
this  twelfth  day  of  February, 
A.  D.  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-four. 

(Signed)  Antonio  Alvarez, 

K.  P.  A. 


No.  17. 

Sir: 

In  answer  to  Your  Excellency's  letter  of  November  24, 
inclosing  a  note,  in  which  the  transfer  of  the  company  of 
grenadiers  is  regarded  as  proper,  and  directing  me  to  employ 
the  news  brought  by  the  pilot  as  a  pretext  for  sending 
(him)  with  it  to  Frederico  or  New  Georgia,  in  order  to 
make  sure  I  have  the  honor  to  make  the  following  state- 
ment : 

On  January  18  I  sent  the  adjutant  Don  Juan  Jacinto 
Rodriguez  with  Your  Excellency's  letter,  under  the  pretext 
of  complaining  to  the  commanding  officers  of  those  colonies, 
that  Indians  of  their  allegiance  had  murdered  the  Cacique 
Pujoy  and  the  people  with  him.  I  further  demanded  the 
return  of  the  Cacique's  wife  and  of  fourteen  other  persons, 
men  and  women,  taken  prisoners,  a  barbarous  violation  of 
good  relations,  and  the  punishment  of  the  authors  of  this 
infraction,  etc.  Having  arrived  at  Gualquini,  a  plantation  of 
Don  Guillermo  Horton,  Esquire,  Governor  of  Frederico, 
Rodriguez  gave  him  my  letter,  but  was  refused  permission 
to  proceed  in  order  to  deliver  the  remaining  letters  to  Don 
Thomas  Hauston,  Esquire,  Governor-in-chief  of  the  entire 
province  of  San  Jorge,  and  to  Don  Diego  Gasgoine,  Captain 


*  It  wiU  be  noticed  that  the  last  letter  of  this  coUection  is  dated  January  2,  1741. 

Tr. 


Letters  of  Montiano 


of  the  Manual^  (man-of-war).  In  spite  of  all  his  eflForts, 
permission  to  proceed  was  still  refused,  with  the  statement 
that  within  21  days  answers  would  be  sent  to  San  Juan; 
and  as  he  could  not  delay  so  long  without  exciting  suspi- 
cion, and  now  felt  sure  that  he  would  not  be  allowed  to 
continue  his  journey,  as  on  former  occasions,  he  decided 
to  return,  having  verified  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  the  fact 
that  no  new  fortification  had  been  added  to  those  he  had 
seen  the  year  before.  He  noticed,  too,  that  according  to 
appearances,  they  were  living  without  care,  or  else  making 
a  show  of  it. 

While  with  Don  Guillermo,  he  was  told  of  the  departure 
about  five  months  ago  from  Holland  of  six  ships  of  50  or 
60  guns  to  capture  the  coast  guard  vessel  of  Habana,  be- 
cause of  the  latter's  seizure  of  a  ship  of  great  importance 
{muy  interesado)  and  that  likewise,  a  ship  of  unspecified 
nationality  had  sailed  from  Cadiz,  with  orders  from  the  King 
that  Your  Excellency  and  Don  Antonio  de  Benavides  should 
meet  to  decide  whether  the  prize  was  good.  He  also 
learned  that  three  frigates  had  arrived  with  350  laborers 
to  work  in  the  fields,  and  noticed  that  the  Manual  (man-of- 
war)  was  not  in  its  usual  moorings,  and  upon  asking  why 
was  told  that  she  was  careened  in  Savana.  He  adds  that  he 
was  informed  that  the  schooner  of  Devis  was  loading  at 
Puerto  Real  for  a  journey  to  this  point,  and  as  the  distance 
is  only  forty  leagues.  Your  Excellency's  long  delay  discour- 
ages me.  That  is  why  I  renew  my  prayer  to  Your  Excellen- 
cy to  deign  to  send  as  early  as  possible  a  vessel  loaded  with 
corn  to  keep  us  from  perishing.  This  is  all  that  I  have  by 
way  of  news  for  Your  Excellency  to  whom  I  am  always 
obedient,  ever  praying,  etc. 

Florida,  February  3,  1738. 


No.  18. 

vSir: 

I  answer  Your  Excellency's  letter  of  the  24  of  November, 
in  which  Your  Excellency  elaborately  disputes  the  news  I 
gave  you  that  Don  Diego  Ogletor  had  been  appointed 
General-in-chief.  Your  Excellency  treats  the  remainder  of 
my  news  in  the  same  fashion,  alleging  that  there  may  be  a 

•  The  word  "in.Tii-of-war"  is  interpolated  by  thecopyist.  "Manuel"  is  evidently 
Dou  Manuel's  transliteration  of  our  "man  o'  war."    Tr. 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  ij 


blunder,  and  that  your  doubts  are  confirmed  by  English 
explanations  to  the  effect  that  Don  Diego  Ogletor's  sup- 
porters were,  not  the  King,  but  a  few  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  that  any  way  it  has  never  been  established  that 
the  King  had  ever  authorized  the  fraudulent  usurpations 
of  foreign  dominions  now  condoned,  as  this  would  have 
been  a  notorious  infraction.  But  with  the  fact  before  me 
that  in  spite  of  the  expostulations  of  ours  (i.  e.  our  King) 
they  hold  their  ground,  skillfully  seeking  every  opportunity 
to  advance  and  to  seize  whatever  they  can  without  let  from 
their  King,  who  should  have  interfered  in  accordance  with 
the  treaty  of  peace  of  1670  delimiting  the  boundaries  of 
both  crowns,  I  am  compelled  to  believe  that  whenever  the 
occasion  offers,  they  will  seize  by  force  of  arms  what  they 
have  been  unable  to  get  by  the  craft,  skill  and  persistence 
so  far  employed  by  them.  It  is  for  these  reasons  that  I 
have  communicated  to  Your  Excellency  the  news  of  our 
spies,  it  being  my  plain  duty  so  to  do,  that  no  one  may  at 
any  time  charge  me  with  the  omission.  It  is  also  my  duty 
to  strive  to  protect  this  position,  as  long  as  the  King  shall 
entrust  it  to  me.  This  is  my  part :  it  is  your  Excellency's  to 
interpret  them  (news,  events)  as  you  may  see  fit.  I  shall 
ever  be  ready  to  inform  Your  Excellency  of  all  fresh  events, 
and  try  to  use  all  opportunities  to  send  news  as  rapidly  as 
possible. 

And  as  I  should  have  had  (no)  boat  other  than  Ojeda's,  and 
it  could  not  be  expected  that  Devis's,  which  I  am  await- 
ing, would  go  any  farther  and  as  I  should  give  Your  Excel- 
lency the  news  of  Pujoy,  I  make  use  of  Matheo  Rodriguez 
who  starts  at  once,  begging  Your  Excellency  to  send  us 
some  boat  in  good  time  loaded  with  corn,  in  case  these  peo- 
ple should  fail  us,  as  is  to  be  feared.  My  obedience  is  al- 
ways completely  yours,  etc. 

Florida,  February  4,  1738. 


No  23. 
Sir: 

The  departure  of  Matheo  Rodriguez's  schooner  from  this 
point  was  followed  on  the  loth  inst.,  by  the  arrival  of  a 
small  boat  from  Puerto  Real.  An  explorer  who  came  in 
her  reports  that  a  ship  from  London  to  the  Port  of  Carolina* 


*  Charleston.  Don  Manuel  similarly  calls  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  just  as  to-day 
ubans  never  say  Santiago,  but  Cuba,  the  full  name  of  the  place  being  Santiago  de 
uba.    Tr. 


/^  Letters  of  Montiano 


brings  the  news  of  the  death  of  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain 
on  November  20  of  last  year.     Further,  that  the  Count  de 
Montijo,  our  Ambassador  \£>  that  (the  EngHsh)  court  having 
set  forth  the  indubitable  right  of  the  Spanish  crown  to  all 
the  colonies  south  of  latitude  '^'^  degrees  30  minutes,  our  own 
Sovereign  asked  that  they  be  released  without  resistance, 
the  despatch  of  troops  to  hold  them  constituting  an  act  of 
hostility.     The  answer  to  this  was  an  order  to  prepare  60 
ships  of  the  line  to  take  station  off  Cadiz,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  send  Don  Diego  Ogletor  with  800  regulars,  500  from 
England,  and  300  from  the  Gibraltar  garrison  under  the  or- 
ders of  a  colonel,  the  best  Engineer  of  the  kingdom,  Ogle- 
thorpe to  have  the  supreme  command  of  both  Carolinas,  and 
to  receive  all  necessary  assistance.     He  was  expected  this 
month  with  two  frigates,  one  of  40  guns,  and  already  in  an- 
ticipation ordered  the  purchase  of  great  supplies,  now  being 
stored  in   Georgia  at  all  hazards.     The   Count  de   Montijo 
accordingly  withdrew  to  Madrid,  and  the  resolution  of  the 
English   to   send   troops   made   war   certain.     Further,   both 
Carolinas  are  acquainted  with  the  designs  of  Habana  against 
those  Colonies  for  the  month  of  March,  having  obtained  the 
news  from  an  English  frigate  that  left  the  said  port  in  August 
and  transmitted  the  news  at  sea  to  another  frigate  encoun- 
tered on  its  way  to  Carolina.     Here,  he  continues,   fortifi- 
cations are  under  construction,  and  six  thousand  Chalaque 
Indians  have  been  ordered  to  assemble  to  go  to  Georgia :  the 
citizens  of  Old  Carolina  do  not  relish  the  command  of  Ogle- 
tor  on  account  of  his  boldness  and  arrogance,  and  because 
they  fear  an  interruption  of  thier  business.     He  reports  that 
4,000  men  are  said  to  be  coming  from  Spain  and  a  few  war 
ships  to  be  joined  by  the  Windward  fleet ;  further  that  the 
English  are  asking  the  Spaniards  to  return  the  prizes  taken 
in  America,  and  that  in  Europe  an  English   ship  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Spaniards,  all  its  crew  put  to  death,  and  the  ship 
taken  to  Alicante ;  that  the  Dutch  have  captured  a  ship  of 
ours  in  American  waters,  with  a  few  persons  of  distinction 
who  were  being  held  as  hostages  until  the  return  of  the  cap- 
tures made ;  that  the  Germans  and  French  were  bound  by  the 
closest  ties  of  friendship,  and  that  the  former  and  the  Rus- 
sians had  taken  from  the  Turks  many  places  and  provinces, 
killing  many  people  with  but  little  loss  on  the  part  of  the 
allies. 

Tliis  is  all  that  is  reported  by  the  spy,  and  it  agrees  with 
\vh;tt  Your  Excellency  has  written  to  me.     It  is  possible  how- 


^'j.'  A,<,/^////,/.^.^ 


APLiVN  of  theTowaCasde.aiidHaifcour. 
STAuduSTDJE. 
land  ihc  adjaccnlCoastof  FLOMDA 

/u/i^./ih.M.  ,,,„l^//^.„n,/  OglethOTpe 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  /^ 


ever  that  a  visit  to  this  place  with  this  information  is  a  ruse 
to  cause  us  to  suspend  operations,  if  it  is  certain  that  he  has, 
as  he  says,  got  hold  of  a  plan  without  their  knowledge,  and 
I  wonder  that  such  piece  of  information  as  the  withdrawal 
of  our  Ambassador  should  not  have  been  communicated 
to  these  parts,  upon  which  subject  Your  Excellency  will 
know  exactly  what  to  say. 

Having  no  further  news,  and  begging,  etc. 

Florida,  February  15,  1738. 


No.  25. 
Sir: 

Just  as  I  was  closing  my  despatches  to  send  them  in 
Ojeda's  sloop,  I  received  the  answers  of  the  commanding  of- 
ficers in  New  Georgia.  They  may  be  summed  up  as  express- 
ions of  regret  for  the  murder  of  King  Pujoy  and  promises 
to  capture  and  punish  the  aggressors,  and  to  restore  the 
prisoners  if  they  can  be  found.  They  further  express  the 
desire  to  maintain  good  relations,  as  well  as  the  treaties  made 
by  their  General  Oglethorpe  with  Don  Francisco  de  Moral. 
In  respect  of  Your  Excellency's  letter  treating  of  the  Pilot, 
which  no  one  saw  except  Don  Guillermo  Horton,  living  at 
Gualpuini,  there  is  not  a  hint  in  his  answer.  The  others  say 
that  as  they  have  not  seen  it,  they  do  not  understand  the 
matter;  I  am  persuaded  they  have  not  failed  to  interchange 
sentiments  on  the  subject.  The  trooper  that  brought  the 
letters  says  that  the  crew  of  the  English  canoe  report  Ogle- 
thorpe as  arrived,  and  as  being  in  Gualquini ;  that  they  asked 
if  there  were  any  Spanish  or  English  ship  on  the  coast,  and 
on  hearing  there  were  none,  returned  without  going  any 
further.     I  have  no  more  to  report  to  Your  Excellency,  etc. 

Florida,  February  16,  1738. 


No.  38. 
Sir: 

In  a  letter  of  Feb.  22,  and  postscript  of  March  22, 
Your  Excellency  gave  me  notice  of  the  departure  of  the 
small  expedition.  This,  in  spite  of  the  length  of  the  voy- 
age, arrived  safely  with  the  exception  of  a  canoe,  recovered 
however,  as  I  am  informed  in  that  port  (Habana).  In  the 
aforesaid  letter.  Your  Excellency  gave  me  precise  directions 
upon  the  course  to  be  followed  and  precautions  taken,  to 


1 6  Letters  of  Montiano 


keep  from  the  enemy  any  knowledge  of  our  intended  ex- 
pedition to  dislodge  foreign  intruders  from  the  territory  un- 
lawfully held  by  them  in  these  provinces.  But  as  this  plan 
has  come  to  naught,  by  reason  of  His  Majecty's  latest  reso' 
lution,  nothing  is  left  to  me  except  to  regret  most  deeply  the 
frustration  of  these  excellent  measures  and  the  absence  of 
the  results  which  I  had  reason  to  believe  would  accrue  from 
so  fine,  strong  and  adequate  an  expedition — for  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  small  one  alone  would  have  filled  them  with 
consternation  and  put  them  to  flight. 

With  regard  to  Don  Antonio  Diaz  Villejas,  subordinate  of 
the  principal  agent  Don  Antonio  de  la  Mora,  and  to  Don 
Lorenzo  Garcia,  in  charge  of  stores,  I  have  done  all  in  my 
power  to  secure  the  greatest  economy  in  the  distribution  of 
rations,  and  in  the  care  and  preservation  of  stores,  charging 
them  especially  to  keep  ever  in  mind  the  directions  given 
them  to  the  same  end  by  Your  Excellency. 

In  respect  of  your  instructions  to  send  a  post  to  Don 
Alonzo  del  Toro  telling  him  to  suspend  his  departure  until 
the  middle  of  April,  the  reasons  therefor  having  come  to 
an  end,  I  merely  told  him  to  observe  the  directions  given 
him  by  the  Engineer  Don  Antonio  de  Arredondo  in  his 
letters  (communicated  to  me).  These  seemed  to  me  to  be 
most  proper.  With  these  I  sent  the  post,  which  he  promptly 
received,  preparing  him  for  any  emergency  that  might  arise. 
This  is  all  I  have  to  report  to  Your  Excellency  on  these 
matters,  etc. 

Florida,  13  May,  1738. 


No.  41. 
Sir: 

Your  Excellency's  two  letters  of  the  i8th  of  March  give  me 
the  dispositions  taken  by  you  to  oust  the  foreign  intruders 
in  these  provinces,  and  tell  me  that  the  general  command  of 
the  expedition  has  been  given  to  Colonel  Don  Juan  Bapta.  de 
Echeverria  according  to  orders  furnished  Your  Excellency, 
among  which  I  conjecture  must  be  included  those  received 
by  me  on  May  8  from  the  Marquis  of  Torrenueva.  In  respect 
of  these  matters,  I  am  unable  to  express  to  Your  Excellency 
my  regret  at  this  suspension,  because  I  believe  that  the 
measures  and  rules  adopted  by  Your  Excellency  would  sure- 
ly have  led  to  the  expulsion  of  the  enemy.  For  this  glorious 
end,  and  apart  from  the  modest  resources  offered  by  this 


Siege  of  SI  Augustine  17 


position,  I  should  have  striven  with  all  the  zeal  and  love 
demanded  by  the  service  of  the  King,  by  my  afifection  for 
Your  Excellency,  and  by  my  sense  of  what  is  due  my  friend 
Don  Juan  Bapta.  de  Echeverria. 

In  consequence  of  the  failure  of  this  plan,  no  effect  has 
been  given  to  Your  Excellency's  orders  to  the  agent,  Don 
Antonio  de  la  Mora,  with  respect  to  the  ten  thousand  pesos 
entrusted  to  him.  As  for  the  six  thousand  sent  me  by 
Your  Excellency  to  be  employed  solely  in  fortifications,  I 
shall  arrange  that  the  Engineer  in  charge  make  a  weekly 
account  of  expenditures  ordered  by  me,  so  that  everything 
may  be  perfectly  clear  and  thoroughly  justified.  The  con- 
victs only  will  draw  rations  under  the  forms  always  followed 
in  this  garrison,  a  course  of  which  I  approve. 

Your  Excellency  tells  me  of  the  dispatch  of  82  convicts 
of  those  furnished  by  his  Grace  the  Viceroy  Archbishop ;  of 
these  only  one  is  missing,  who  I  am  told,  escaped  from  the 
Morro.  We  have  also  received  the  four  pieces  of  24  and  18, 
and  the  eight  of  5  and  6.  I  had  already  informed  Your  Ex- 
cellency by  letter  of  April  25,  that  the  six  row  galley  guns 
carried  by  the  galliots  had  been  left  here.  Being  needed 
here  I  thought  fit  to  take  them  out,  being  unwilling  to  ex- 
pose them  to  any  risk.  I  beg  Your  Excellency  to  send  us 
their  carriages,  as  we  shall  then  avoid  the  expense  of  new 
ones,  and  to  approve  this  course  of  mine. 

I  inform  Your  Excellency  that  Don  Pedro  Barranco  is 
taking  with  him  four  3-pounder  stone  mortars,  two  2-pounder 
and  ten  breech  plugs,  all  of  bronze,  so  that  Your  Excellen- 
cy approve,  they  may  be  recast  into  falconets,  which  are  more 
readily  handled.  The  mortars  are  useless  because  their 
plugs,  made  here,  do  not  fit.  The  Royal  stores  here  have 
also  received  through  the  foreman  substituted  for  Don  Fran- 
cisco de  Leon  Galera,  the  clothes,  shirts,  hats,  beads  and 
pipes,  sent  under  his  charge.  I  shall  take  the  gross  amount 
from  the  Indian  budget,  and  carry  it  to  the  account  of  works, 
in  order  to  employ  it  in  our  labors  here,  which  in  accordance 
with  your  suggestion  appears  to  me  the  best  course. 
Florida,  May  28,  1738. 


No.  43. 

Sir: 

In  a  letter  of  March  24,  Your  Excellency  notified  me  of  the 
day  on'  which  you  must  have  embarked  the  troops  and  mili- 


/S  Letters  of  Montiano 

tia  for  our  intended  expedition,  and  that  the  21st  of  said 
month,  you  received  a  post  with  orders  from  the  King  to 
suspend  it  while  conferences  between  the  two  crowns  would 
fix  the  metes  and  bounds  of  these  provinces.  And  that  at 
the  same  time  Your  Excellency  was  advised  that  His 
Majesty  desires  they  should  guard  against  any  sudden  at- 
tack, and  that  measures  be  taken  to  put  this  fortress  and 
that  of  Apalachee  into  as  good  condition  of  defense  as  pos- 
sible.    *     *     * 

This  is  all  I  have  to  remark  in  respect  of  these  affairs. 

Florida,  June  2,  1738. 


No.  45. 
Sir: 

In  a  separate  letter  of  March  24,  Your  Excellency  informs 
me  that  if  the  two  courts  do  not  agree  on  the  delimitation 
or  adjustment  of  the  boundaries  of  this  city  and  of  St  George, 
and  that  if  in  consequence  ours  should  determine  upon  the 
recovery  of  the  boundaries  belonging  to  it,  I  am  to  discover 
by  all  means  in  my  power  the  condition  of  the  new  settle- 
ments as  well  as  of  Puerto  Real  and  Purisbur,  whether  they 
have  received  rc-enforcemnts,  either  army  or  navy,  the  ton- 
nage of  the  ships,  and  that  I  must  obtain  the  most  minute  in- 
formation through  the  most  trustworthy  channels  availa- 
ble, for  report  to  His  Majesty. 

I  assure  Your  Excellency  that  among  the  many  difficulies 
of  life  here,  the  greatest  is  the  lack  of  persons  of  intelligence 
for  such  business ;  there  is  not  a  single  emissary  here  to 
whom  it  may  be  intrusted.  And  although  Don  Antonio  de 
Arrendondo  and  I  have  long  conferred  in  these  matters,  and 
on  the  methods  of  obtaining  the  reliable  information  we 
need,  we  have  encountered  so  many  obstacles  that  we  have 
not  yet  hit  on  the  best  way  of  proceeding  in  so  important  an 
affair.  But  what  is  positive  in  this  whole  business,  is  that 
the  English  of  the  new  settlements  and  of  San  Jorge  had  not 
the  slightest  idea  of  what  was  forward,  before  the  arrival 
in  their  parts  of  the  English  pilot  Your  Excellency  found  in 
this  place.  This  is  established  by  their  Gazette,  which  Your 
Excellency  will  see  with  other  news  written  by  Don  Antonio 
dc  Arrendondo,  and  by  their  having  at  once  sent  a  20-gun  fri- 
gate and  a  sloop  to  this  port,  to  verify  the  reports  of  said 
pilot.  As  a  norther  blew  April  29  and  30,  requiring  j:hem  to 
beat  and  lie-to.  it  was  impossible  to  send  a  launch  to  ask 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  /$> 


them  why  they  had  come.  To  make  sure  of  their  fears, 
they  undoubtedly  sent  Edward  Bullard  in  a  sloop  under  the 
pretext  of  recovering  a  debt  due  him  by  these  offices,  and 
notes  made  by  a  few  private  individuals.  But  before  open- 
ing these  subjects,  he  handed  me  a  letter  from  the  Governor 
of  San  Jorge,  of  which  I  send  a  copy,  as  well  as  my  answer, 
for  the  information  of  Your  Excellency. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Devis  by  the  aforesaid  English  pilot, 
it  is  said  that  on  the  15th  of  May  after  a  journey  of  eight 
weeks  three  frigates  arrived  at  San  Jorge,  one  called  "Fenix'' 
of  20  guns,  the  other  two  transports,  carrying  600  regulars 
taken  on  at  Gibraltar  and  40  bronze  guns  of  all  calibers ; 
further  that  General  Oglethorpe  was  shortly  expected.  But 
as  this  news  comes  from  persons  of  the  same  nation,  in 
whom  we  can  not  have  the  slighest  confidence,  we  remain 
in  the  same  state  of  uncertainty,  because  we  have  no  one  who 
can  make  the  necessary  investigation.  This  would  be  costly, 
and  as  we  have  neither  means  nor  trustworthy  persons,  we 
have  no  way  of  discovering  the  truth  or  of  receiving  news 
through  a  safe  channel.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however, 
that  if  this  news  be  true,  our  Government  must  know  it.  I 
have  no  more  to  say  on  this  subject,  and  subscribe  myself, 
etc.  , 

Florida,  June  3,  1738. 


No.  57. 
Sir: 

After  the  departure  of  the  transports  with  Don  Philipe 
de  Yturrieta  and  his  troops,  I  learned  that  the  English  are 
fortifying  Federico  on  the  island  of  San  Simon,  where  they 
are  building  a  brick  fort,  and  that  they  are  doing  the  work 
from  San  Jorge,  using  a  great  number  of  pinnaces,  and  em- 
ploying more  than  200  men,  laboring  night  and  day. 

Although  this  information  may  be  feigned,  and  intended  to 
alarm  us,  yet  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  communicate  it  to  Your 
Excellency  by  reason  of  any  significance  whatever  it  may 
have  for  the  royal  service.  In  order  that  Your  Excellency 
might  be  fully  possessed  of  the  matter,  and  for  the  purpose 
also  of  acquiring  a  real  certainty  in  respect  of  the  operations 
actually  in  hand,  I  at  one  time  thought  of  despatching  one 
of  my  most  active  officers  under  some  pretext,  but  I  have 
abandoned  this  step,  because  it  would  be  perfectly  useless. 
For  although  he  might  be  allowed  to  land,  he  would  not  be 


Letters  of  Montiano 


allowed  to  enter  the  settlements  or  converse  with  any  one. 
To  the  same  end  I  contemplated  sending  by  land  the  Indian 
Juan  Ygnacio  with  companions  of  his  own  choice ;  after  hav- 
ing made  preparations,  so  many  difficulties  and  hindrances 
came  up,  that  I  thought  it  best  to  suspend  the  matter  for  the 
present,  waiting  to  see  if  time  would  not  open  a  channel 
through  which  we  might  get  the  news  we  need.  And  al- 
though Don  Antonio  de  Arrcdondo,  while  he  was  here,  and 
I  discussed  this  matter  thoroughly,  we  have  been  unable  so 
far  to  find  such  a  channel.  On  the  9th  instant,  there  set  out 
for  Apalachee  Don  Antonio  dc  Arredondo,  Don  Pedro  Lam- 
berto,  and  the  foreman  Portillo,  preceded  two  days  before 
by  Don  Miguel  de  Rivas  with  his  detachment  of  50  men, 
and  the  convicts  who  go  with  him  to  work  on  the  fort  at 
that  place.  They  took  with  them  thirty-two  loads  of  pro- 
visions for  the  journey.  One  of  the  20  troops  of  the  ex- 
pedition, returning  sick,  tells  me  that  they  find  fresh  meat 
so  abundant  that  they  leave  it  behind  at  their  halts :  I  take 
it  they  will  make  a  good  journey. 

Don  Antonio  de  Arredondo  is  charged  to  reconnoiter  the 
terrain  best  adapted  for  the  settlement  of  the  families  des- 
tined for  that  province,  and  to  execute  this  task  with  pru- 
dence so  that  neither  the  Indians  nor  the  English  shall  de- 
tect our  purpose,  and  by  advancing  occupy  the  ground  be- 
fore the  arrival  of  the  families.  Another  possibility  to  guard 
against  is  that  the  English,  knowing  our  plans,  should  in- 
duce the  Indians  to  embarass  their  execution.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  his  good  management  will  secure  all  proper 
means  to  this  end. 

Florida,  June  17,  1738. 


No.  63. 
Sir: 

In  answer  to  Your  Excellency's  letter  of  June  16  re- 
ceived through  Perito,  I  have  the  honor  to  take  up  the 
various  subjects  brought  up.  With  regard  to  the  reports 
received  by  Your  Excellency  from  the  Negros  station  ship, 
I  wrote  Your  Excellency  by  Don  Philipe  de  Yturrieta  what 
news  I  had  at  the  time,  and  I  now  send  by  my  letter  of  June 
17,  and  the  note  of  the  ist  instant  what  has  occurred  since 
in  respect  of  this  matter.  I  can  only  add  in  this  lettgr  that 
the  same  person  who  gave  me  the  news  contained  in  the 
aforesaid   note,   declared   under   oath   taken   in   accordance 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine 


with  his  reHgion  at  the  time  his  sloop  was  boarded,that  eight 
companies  of  about  one  hundred  men  each,  with  its  com- 
plement of  officers,  had  come  from  England  to  Federico.  I 
remark  that  as  to  this  statement  and  that  sent  Devis,  there 
is  a  difference  of  200  men,  and  that  whereas  one  says  these 
troops  went  to  San  Jorge,  the  other  says  they  went  to  Fe- 
derico. This  is  all  that  I  can  now  say  on  this  subject.  Thq 
two  launches  are  under  an  arbor  that  I  caused  to  be  raised 
in  the  dockyard  for  their  preservation.  This  arbor  cost 
me  toil  enough,  like  everything  else  here ;  for  example,  the 
work  upon  the  castle  through  lack  of  laborers,  whom  I  am 
obliged  to  assign  in  accordance  with  the  annexed  schedule. 
In  spite  of  all  these  drawbacks,  however,  the  work  is  going 
forward  as  rapidly  as  possible.  All  the  foundations  on  one 
side  of  the  castle  are  nearly  finished,  but  the  arches  have 
not  been  begun  because  we  have  no  hewn  stone.  This  part 
we  can  not  carry  on,  as  we  have  only  two  oxen  trained  to 
work.  Others  are  being  broken  in ;  an  interruption  since 
men  must  be  employed  with  them.  We  have  thrown  down 
the  parapet  of  the  curtain  on  the  side  whose  foundation  is 
laid,  as  well  as  the  interior  wall  forming  the  barracks  on  that 
same  side.  I  have  set  up  a  lime  kiln  and  we  are  pushing  on 
everything  by  all  available  means. 


Florida,  July  4,  1738. 


No.  70. 
Sir:  . 

At  this  hour,  being  four  of  the  afternoon,  I  have  just 
received  a  post  from  Pupo,  in  which  Don  Pedro  Lam- 
berto  reports  his  arrival  this  day  at  that  fort  with  a  loss  of 
two  troopers,  killed  by  the  Uchee  Indians  on  the  way. 

He  further  tells  me  that  although  he  charged  upon  them, 
he  was  unable  to  reap  any  advantage  as  they  had  retired 
to  a  very  impenetrable  wood.  He  contemplated  awaiting 
the  Indians  whom  he  was  bringing  back  with  him  from 
Apalachee,  (the  same  he  took  out  with  him)  who  had  fallen 
behind  in  the  march,  so  as  to  join  hands  with  them  and  at- 
tack the  enemy.  But  he  found  this  impossible,  giving  no 
reasons.  He  intimates  that  he  is  returning  sick,  which  I 
take  to  be  the  reason  why  he  continued  his  march  without 
attempting  the  operation  he  had  at  one  time  contemplated. 
He  also  tells  me  that  the  English  of  the  neighboring  colonies 
have  invited  the  Uchises  to  come  in,  and  that  these  are  pre- 


Letters  of  Montiano 


pared  to  cross  over  to  the  said  colonies.  In  the  same  post 
I  received  letters  from  Don  Miguel  de  Ribas  and  Don  An- 
tonio de  Arrendondo  reporting  their  uneventful  arrival  and 
that  of  the  launch  and  sloop  of  Don  Pedro  Barranco.  On 
this  score  then  I  am  relieved  of  anxiety. 

The  movements  of  those  Uchee  Indians,  and  the  report 
of  Don  Pedro  Lamberto  that  the  English  are  having  rela- 
tions with  the  Uchises,  are  matter  for  thought.  For  the 
this  reason  I  am  not  only  sending  Your  Excellency  these 
reports  by  Pedro  de  Alcantara  but  I  am  duplicating  them 
by  hand,  dispatching  Luis  Gomez  to  the  Keys  to  give  them 
to  the  master  of  the  first  ship  he  may  meet  there,  with  or- 
ders to  the  latter  to  proceed  at  once  to  Habana  and  deliver 
them  to  Your  Excellency. 

I  have  nothing  more  to  report  at  this  time. 

Florida,  July  22,  1738. 


No.  74. 
Sir: 

I  have  received  at  the  hands  of  Marcos  de  Torres  12  let- 
ters of  Your  Excellency  bearing  date  16,  17,  18  and  24  of 
July,  whose  contents  I  shall  report  upon  through  the  same 
shipmaster. 

I  continue  therefore  the  narration  of  events  pending  on 
the  departure  of  Pedro  de  Alcantara  respecting  the  assault 
made  by  the  Uchee  Indians  on  Fort  Pupo.  In  order  to 
discover  the  number  of  the  Indians  encamped  at  a  league 
and  a  half  from  that  fort  near  an  arroyo,  I  sent  out  29  of 
our  Indians,  of  whom  7  withdrew.  The  22  remaining  sent 
me  word  that  they  were  eager  to  make  the  reconnaissance 
on  which  they  had  sallied ;  after  having  been  particularly 
cautioned  not  to  expose  themselves  rashly,  they  reconnoi- 
tercd  from  the  said  fort,  and  returned  here,  after,  as  they 
report,  having  carried  out  their  orders.  They  informed  n;e 
that  in  spite  of  their  attempt  to  discover  the  Indians  along 
the  various  roads,  they  had  found  only  the  trail  of  the  four 
who  followed  the  last  post  that  I  had  sent  to  Apalachee.  I 
am  thus  left  in  doubt  whether  their  report  be  true,  or  wheth- 
er through  fear  they  have  failed  to  reconnoiter  thoroughly. 
I  am  cfjually  ignorant  of  the  numbers  of  the  Indians  that 
advanced  to  Pupo,  and  of  their  halting  place. 

A  few  backwoodsmen  having  arrived  in  this  city  with  some 
live  stock,  were  summoned  before  me,  and  informed  me  that 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine 


^3 


''    '  I  l>H.Ui.HI 


Florid  a 


-H 


F  L  o  i(  I  n    I 


O' 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  gj 


while  out  on  a  trip  they  had  met  a  small  detachment  of 
Uchises  busy  looking  for  horses,  from  whom  they  learned 
that  the  English  of  New  Georgia  had  thrown  out  in  differ- 
ent directions  bodies  of  Indians  loyal  to  them,  with  orders 
to  intercept  the  entire  road  to  Apalachee,  and  to  kill  all  the 
Spaniards  possible,  and  that  with  this  understanding,  they 
were  about  to  return  when  the  meeting  took  place.  Further, 
that  although  •  invited  to  return  to  their  villages  (by  the 
Uchises),  they  paid  no  attention  to  the  offer.  The  herds- 
men added  that  having  withdrawn  with  the  cattle  they  had 
succeeded  in  finding,  they  discovered  at  a  distance  of  14 
leagues  from  Pupo  a  body  of  10  Indians  by  whom  they  were 
molested  until  they  had  the  good  fortune  to  fall  in  with  Don 
Pedro  Lamberto.  This  news,  agreeing  with  the  attack  on 
the  two  rangers  of  this  captain,  with  the  attack  on  Pupo, 
and  with  the  meeting  of  the  10  Indians  who  pursued  the 
herdsmen,  I  communicate  thus  clearly  to  Your  Excellency, 
for  what  it  is  worth  to  the  royal  service. 

In  a  letter  of  i8th  ultimo,  I  told  Your  Excellency  in  re- 
spect of  the  desertion  of  the  8  convicts  employed  in  making 
lime  for  the  works  here,  that  I  had  sent  Don  Sebastian  San- 
chez with  letters  for  the  chiefs  of  these  colonies,*  asking 
for  their  restoration  should  they  arrive  in  their  territory. 
I  profited  by  this  occasion  particularly  to  charge  this  offtcer 
to  make  the  most  particular  inspection  possible  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  English  colonies,  to  discover  their  plans,  and 
inform  himself  about  them  in  every  way  possible,  bidding 
him  to  offer  some  reasonable  reward  if  he  should  meet  any 
one  that  could  give  him  trustworth}^  news.  This  officer  hav- 
ing returned  and  reported  his  investigations,  I  directed  him 
to  certify  his  account,  being  the  same  as  the  authentic  tes- 
timony sent  Your  Excellency.  At  the  same  time,  he  told  me 
he  had  not  found  the  deserters,  and  that  those  Chi(  fs  had 
offered  their  restoration  in  case  they  should  come  to  their 
ports.  I  send  at  the  same  time  to  Your  Excellency  the 
letters  they  wrote  in  answer  to  mine.  He  also  informs  me 
that  there  is  a  great  epidemic  of  smallpox  at  Saint  George. 

Last  night  there  arrived  the  two  posts  that  I  had  sent 
to  Don  Miguel  de  Ribas,  who  informs  me  that  there  is  noth- 
ing new  in  that  fort,  but  that  with  respect  to  the  news  I  gave 
him,  he  will  display  the  greatest  vigilance  in  the  matter  of 
Indian  movements.     To  this  end  he  sent  a  post  to  Ouilate 


*  English  colonies  are  meant.    Tr. 


2^  Letters  of  Montiano 


for  his  information,  who  went  in  person  to  that  fort,  and 
confirmed  the  purpose  of  the  Junta,  as  communicated  to 
Your  Excellency  in  a  letter  of  the  23  ultimo.  In  this  Junta 
the  English  of  Georgia  made  a  great  elTort  to  convene  the 
Talapuches,  Chicazees,  Uchises,  Chalaqucs,  Catapas,  and 
other  nations.  Although  they  all  besought  him  equally,  he 
remained  firm  in  his  resistance  to  these  visits,  sending  news 
of  this  business  instead  of  his  chieftains,  and  in  particular  to 
two  of  especial  loyalty,  so  that  he  might  come  and  report  to 
me  all  that  might  take  place  there. 

At  the  same  time  the  aforesaid  Don  Miguel  dc  Ribas  re- 
ports the  desertion  from  his  fort  of  three  soldiers  and  18 
convicts.  As  for  the  soldiers,  he  has  ordered  them  to  be 
sought  in  Pensacola,  to  which  point  nearly  all  fugitives  go. 
The  convicts  were  caught  at  once,  and  are  now  under  safe 
guard.  The  foreman  Portillo  and  a  few  soldiers  and  con- 
victs remain  sick,  for  which  reason  the  work  there  is  being 
continued  with  a  pause.  This  is  somewhat  the  case  with 
the  work  on  the  castle  here,  because  the  mason  Cantillo 
who  remained  here  to  take  charge  of  it  is  simply  ruined  with 
a  pox.  so  that  he  can  do  no  work.  Hence  it  has  been  neces- 
sary to  send  word  to  Don  Pedro  Ruiz  Olano  to  fortify  Pupo. 
To  carry  on  here  with  the  energy  desirable,  I  beseech 
Your  Excellency  to  send  here  all  the  convicts  possible,  a 
pair  of  good  carts,  and  a  few  junta  maestras,  since  for  the 
lack  of  these  things  and  of  peons,  the  work  goes  on  with 
great  slowness,  a  source  to  me  of  the  greatest  anxiety. 

I  have  already  given  Your  Excellency  my  opinion  of  the 
summons  of  the  Indians,  and  I  pledge  my  utmost  powers 
to  discover  their  plans ;  and  whether  thus  or  through  the 
disclosures  of  Quilate's  trustworthy  friends,  I  shall  give 
Your  Excellency  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  all  the 
news  that  I  may  get,  and  should  the  case  call  for  it  I  shall 
send  one  of  the  two  launches  here,  so  that  no  serious  del^LV 
shall  occur,  or  favorable  opportunity  miscarry. 

The  Indian  Juan  Ygnacio  has  not  returned,  and  I  am 
very  anxious  about  him,  as  I  fear  lest  he  may  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  came  to  Pupo :  if  he  has  escaped 
them,  I  trust  that  he  will  bring  me  very  sure  news. 

Florida,  8th  of  August,  1738. 


Siege  of  St.  Auguslinc  ^j 


No.  76. 
Sir: 

In  my  letter  of  Nov.  11,  of  last  year,  I  gave  Your  Excel- 
lency the  news  I  had  got  from   Milord  Ogletor's  projects 
made  before  the  English  court  in  respect  of  helping  the  cap- 
ture of  this  place,  such  as  keeping  ships  at  the  mouth  and 
along  the  keys  of  the  new  channel,  so  as  to  insult  the  fleets 
of  merchant  ships,  galleons,  quicksilver  ships,  and  other  ves- 
sels of  Spanish  commerce.     Later  on,  I  gave  Your  Excel- 
lency  all   the   information   that   I   had   found   it  possible   to 
collect.     Lastly  in  letters  of  July  21  and  August  8  I  com- 
municated to  Your  Excellency  the  assault  which  the  Yuches, 
friends  of  the  English,  made  on  Fort  Pupo  the  night  of  July 
18;  the  death  of  the  scouts  of  Don  Pedro  Lamberto ;  and 
the  news  given  by  the  Uchises  to  some  hunters  of  ours  that 
the  English  had  sent  out  a  few  parties  of  Indians  witli  orders 
to   kill   as   many   Spaniards   as   possible.     I   also   inclosed   a 
statement  of  the  embassy  Quilate  sent  to  the  commanding 
officer  at  Apalachee   telling' him   that  the   EngHsh   of   New 
Georgia  had  twice  caused  to  be  summoned  all  the  Indians 
of  the  Provinces;  as  well  as  an  account  of  Don  Sebastian 
Sanchez  (whom'  I  had  sent  to  the  neighboring  colonies  to 
recover  the  eight  convicts,  deserters)   of  all  that  he  had  been 
able  to  see  and  learn.     And  now  very  recently,  the  Indian 
Juan  Ygnacio  has  returned  v;hom   I  had  also   sent  to  the 
same  colonies  to  try,  by  using  his  native  wit,  to  slip  into  them 
and  discover  as  much  as  he  could  of  the  plans  of  the  English, 
and  of  their  condition.     Likewise  there  have  fled  hither  two 
Irishmen   and   one   Scotchman.     I   am   accordingly   sending 
Your  Excellency  a  careful  account  of  their  statements,  and 
of  all  that  the  aforesaid  Indian  has  declared  he  heard  and 
saw,  from  the  time  he  reached  the  English,  until  he  could 
manage  to  slip  away,  in  order  that  Your  Excellency  may 
be  completely  informed  of  all  the  news  that  I  have  been  able 
to  gather.     Reflecting  on  certain  portions  of  this  accoimt. 
I  ought  to  point  out  to  Your  Excellency  that  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Cocram,  Governor  of  San  Simon  having  asked  our 
Indian  if  there  were  much  money  in  Florida,  and  being  an- 
swered that  there  was,  said  to  him :     "Soon  that  will  all  l)e 
the    King    of    England's."     With    respect    to    this    haughty 
statement,  I  may  be  allowed  to  point  out  that  this  Governor 
would  not  make  such  assertions,  were  he  not  informed  o* 
his  sovereign's  desire  to  possess  himself  of  this  place. 


2$  Letters  of  Montiatio 


In  the  next  sentence,  Cocram  asked  our  Indian  about  the 
condition  of  this  place  and  castle,  and  to  his  answer  remark- 
ed :  "When  you  hear  it  said  that  General  Ogletor  has  ar- 
rived, whom  I  am  expecting  with  700  men,  then  will  you  see 
me  put  a  war  ship  at  the  mouth  of  the  bar,  to  cut  ofT  supplies ; 
and  another  on  the  keys,  to  embarrass  vessels  from  Habana." 
It  should  be  noticed  and  recollected  here,  that  this  plan 
forms  part  of  Ogletor's  dispositions.  Further,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Cocram  has  just  come  from  London,  and  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  believe  that  this  officer  must  have  been  informed 
there  that  Ogletor's  plans  were  approved,  and  that  the  lat- 
ter must  have  strengthened  them  by  representing  the  ad- 
vantages accruing  to  his  Britannic  Majesty  from  the  cap- 
ture of  Florida.  This  plan  may  be  regarded  as  adopted,  see- 
ing that  in  another  sentence  he  said  affirmatively  to  our  In- 
dian that  before  2  or  3  years  he  would  be  seeing  them  mak- 
ing wine  and  aguardiente  in  this  province ;  and  that  for  the 
purpose  of  mastering  it,  he  had  in  Sabanto,  San  Andres  and 
San  Simon,  900  men,  who  with  the  700  Ogletor  was  to  bring, 
and  the  5,000  and  6,000  Indians  they  would  call  together  in 
less  than  2  months  would  advance  and  disembark  on  the 
river  St.  John's  near  the  fort  of  Picolata,  the  only  point,  as 
they  say  themselves,  from  which  may  be  counted  the  7  leagues 
to  this  position. 

In  this  last  paragraph  of  his  account  our  Indian  says  he 
heard  Lieutenant  Colonel  Cocram,  and  Don  Guillermo  Haus- 
ton  say  that  they  had  offered  their  Indians  50  dollars  for 
the  scalp  of  every  Spaniard  they  might  kill.  The  truth  of 
this  is  sufficiently  established  by  the  news  given  our  herds- 
men by  the  Indians,  by  the  violent  death  of  Don  Pedro  Lam- 
berto's  two  scouts,  and  by  the  surprise  they  attempted 
against  Pupo.  And  the  enlistment  of  the  5,000  or  6,000  In- 
dians spoken  of  in  the  preceding  paragraph  is  verified  by 
the  embassy  of  the  supreme  chief  Quilate.  Upon  which  I 
have  to  remark  that  the  aforementioned  Governor  Cocram 
would  not  have  called  the  meeting  for  these  outrages,  with- 
out express   orders   from   his   Government. 

At  this  hour,  half  past  eleven  at  night,  I  have  received  the 
report  of  the  chief  of  a  detachment  which  I  am  keeping  in 
an  armed  launch  in  the  river  St.  John's,  that  25  Indians  and 
2  Knglishmen  allowed  themselves  to  be  seen  on  the  shores 
of  the  island  of  the  same  name. 

As  this  point  is  the  very  one  they  have  fortified,  and  the 
one  in  which  they  tried  to  found  a  new  settlement  it  must 


Siege  of  St.  Aiigustitie  2j 


be  two  or  three  years  ago, — not  only  is  it  plain  that  there 
must  be  more  Indians  and  Englishmen,  but  also  that  they 
have  come  for  the  same  purpose.  But  I  am  firmly  resolved 
not  to  endure  such  insolence,  and  to  make  them  abandon  the 
idea  if  perchance  they  should  have  pitched  on  it. 

This  is  all  the  news  I  have  been  able  to  acquire  by  the 
means  indicated,  for  the  information  of  Your  Excellency ; 
it  follows  that  the  purposes  of  the  English  are  verified ;  that 
taking  crafty  advantage  of  the  time  selected  for  fixing  the 
boundaries  of  the  provinces  on  both  sides,  not  only  have  they 
applied  themselves  with  greatest  zeal  to  the  fortification  of 
the  ground  that  they  have  unjustly  occupied,  but  that  they 
are  also  taking  the  most  effective  measures  to  take  this  place, 
by  starving  it.  I  have  also  learned  from  Devis,  (who  vouch- 
es stoutly  for  it,  on  account  of  the  confidence  he  has  in  his 
informant  of  the  island  of  Barbadoes)  that  the  number  of 
troops  Ogletor  is  to  transport  is  i,ooo  men,  and  that  as 
many  as  20  ships  of  war  are  to  be  sent  from  London  for  sta- 
tion ofif  Jamaica.  It  is  that  Your  Excellency  may  take  the 
best  means  to  guard  the  fleets  now  in  these  American  waters, 
and  deign  to  take  all  the  measures  needed  for  the  important 
work  of  finishing  this  castle,  as  well  as  the  others  suggested 
by  Your  Excellency's  great  discretion  and  knowledge  as 
suited  to  the  execution  of  these  premeditated  ideas,  that 
I  transmit  these  reports  to  Your  Excellency.  In  order  to 
lose  no  time,  I  do  not  answer  the  letters  which  1  promised 
by  Marcos  de  Torres  to  answer.  I  assure  Your  Excellency 
that  I  shall  fail  in  no  point  to  display  the  utmost  vigilance 
for  the  safety  of  this  place.  To  this  end,  I  have  asked  the 
purveyor  at  New  York  to  send  me  with  the  utmost  despatch 
supplies  for  one  year,  because  from  now  on  those  needed 
by  the  King,  and  designated  by  you  can  not  be  obtained 
through  other  channels. 

I  had  intended  to  send  Juan  Ygnacio  the  day  of  sailing 
to  that  city,  (Habana)  so  as  to  give  Your  Excellency  by 
word  of  mouth  the  account  he  gave  me,  but  having  declared 
to  me  that  he  had  made  a  certain  promise  of  vow.  in  case 
of  a  happy  issue,  to  Our  Lady  of  Cobre,  I  was  unwilling 
to  put  him  aboard  with  violence,  and  I  let  him  go  at  his  own 
free  will  to  present  himself  to  Your  Excellency. 

I  beg  that  he  may  return  at  the  first  opportunity. 
Florida,  Aug.  31,  1738. 


g8  Letters  of  Montiano 


No.  in. 

Sir: 

In  a  letter  of  October  lo,  Your  Excellency  is  good  enough 
to  tell  me  that  the  squadron  on  nine  war-ships  under  the 
command  of  Don  Joseph  Pizarro  is  now  in  your  harbor,  and 
that  although  you  have  received  letters  ^rom  Spain  by  a 
despatch  boat  on  its  way  to  Vera  Cruz,  the  official  ones  throw 
no  light  on  the  question  of  peace  or  war,  but  that  the  private 
ones  say  the  English  have  corrected  their  schemes.  Fur- 
ther, that  it  is  felt  our  differences  will  be  compounded  by 
gentle  and  friendly  methods,  a  feeling  shared  by  Your  Ex- 
cellency for  reasons  soundly  set  forth.  On  this  subject  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  say  to  Your  Excellency  that  I  am  of  the 
same  opinion,  for  I  have  had  a  thorough  understanding  with 
Devis.  and  succeeded  in  making  him  reveal  the  present  state 
of  these*  colonies,  their  news  and  plans.  He  assures  me  there 
is  nothing  new  except  the  arrival  of  Milord  Ogletor,  and  as 
this  officer  is  so  captious  and  crossgrained,  I  am  astonished 
that  having  come,  he  should  remain  quiet,  and  although  I 
distrust  this  peaceful  attitude  as  being  perhaps  only  the 
deepest  artifice,  yet  I  regard  it  as  nothing  less  than  miracu- 
lous. And  so  I  am  diminishing  in  no  respect  my  vigilance 
over  all  the  measures  they  may  take,  nor  my  watch  of  the 
river  St.  John's  and  the  forts  Pupo  and^  Picolata.  I  am  ad- 
vancing these  works  as  much  as  possible,  and  searching  into 
the  intentions  of  the  English,  for  Your  Excellency's  informa- 
tion in  case  they  should  have  any  significance,  while  they 
are  not  being  put  into  effect,  and  an  agreement  is  reached 
in  respect  of  the  differences  set  afoot  by  their  unjust  seizure 
of  territory  belonging  to  this  Province.  And,  if  I  should 
have  any  urgent  news  for  Your  Excellency  and  no  earlier 
vessel  to  send  it  by,  I  should  despatch  a  launch,  as  I  have 
before  told  Your  Excellency,  in  order  that  Your  Excellency 
may  not  be  without  it,  and  that  such  dispositions  may  be 
made  for  the  King's  service  as  may  in  your  wisdom  seem 
best. 

Florida,  3  January,  1739. 
Postscript. 

Don  Pedro  Lamberto  has  told  me  that  a  soldier  fired  at 
Ogletor,  and  that  he  got  this  from  Devis,  who  however  con- 
cealed it  from  me,  and  until  he  left  the  port  said  nothing 
of  it  to  me. 


•The  English.    Tr. 


Siege  of  SI.  Augustine  2g 


On  Nov.  21,  23  negroes  of  both  sexes  and  children  came 
here  fleeing  from  Puerto  Real,  nineteen  belong  to  Devis ; 
eight  are  workmen.  I  am  struggling  with  all  the  freemen  to 
establish  them  in  Moze  half  a  league  from  here  to  the  n(3rth, 
so  that  they  may  there  form  a  settlement,  and  cultivate 
those  lands.  I  have  appointed  Don  Sebastian  Sanchez  to 
take  charge,  and  Don  Joseph  de  Leon  to  instruct  them  in 
the  mysteries  of  our  holy  religion.  He  is  a  young  man  of 
parts,  in  the  church,  and  serves  as  notary  to  the  Lord  Bishop, 
with  whose  approval  he  has  undertaken  this  work.  He  is 
acting  as  parish  priest  until  the  King  shall  have  made  known 
his  good  pleasure.  The  free  negroes  here  are  38  in  all :  and 
it  is  not  impossible  they  may  form  a  good  village. 


No.  126. 
Sir: 

A  man  having  appeared  on  the  edge  of  the  other  bank 
of  the  river  Saint  John's  the  guard  launch  crossed  over  to 
examine  him,  and  took  him  aboard  to  bring  him  here.  He 
arrived  on  the  i6th  ultimo,  and  we  got  from  him  the  declara- 
ton  herewith.  From  it  Your  Excellency  can  determine  the 
condition  of  Georgia  and  of  its  fortifications,  with  all  the 
other  points  that  seemed  to  me  worthy  of  inquiry.  If  what 
he  says  is  true,  it  is  possible  that  General  Ogletor  is  mak- 
ing but  little  progress,  since  I  know  through  another  channel 
that  over  12,000  dollars  are  owing  in  New  York,  and  that 
for  this  reason,  they  are  unwilling  to  send  him  supplies  from 
any  of  their  colonies  where,  on  account  of  his  daring  dispo- 
sition, he  is  in  disfavor,  as  well  as  from  the  reputatiin  he 
has  acquired  of  being  a  poor  paymaster.  This  is  all  T  have 
to  offer  on  this  point,  remaining,  etc. 

Florida,  3  March,  1739. 


No.  133. 
Sir: 

On  March  9  last,  a  sloop  arrived  in  this  port  from  San 
Jorge  having  on  board  a  Lieutenant  Colonel,  a  member  of 
Parliament  and  an  interpreter,  who  presented  a  letter  of 
instructions  and  authority  to  act  from  various  citizens  of 
those  Colonies,  and  two  letters  from  Don  Diego  Ogletor, 
commanding  General  of  all  the  colonies  of  Carolina  and  from 
Don  Guillermo  Bull,  Governor  of  San  Jorge,  asking  for  an 


^  Letters  of  Montiano 


audience  on  the  subject  of  their  mission.  This  was  to  ask 
for  the  restoration  of  the  negro  fugitives,  deserters  from  the 
neighboring  colonies.  I  received  them  into  my  own  house 
and  having  heard  their  case  through  the  medium  of  three 
interpreters,  I  answered  that  I  deeply  regretted  my  lack 
of  authority  to  grant  their  wishes,  inasmuch  as  the  orders 
of  the  King  contained  no  authority  to  deliberate  on  the 
matter  of  returning  fugitive  negroes  who  might  take  refuge 
in  this  Presidio,  but  on  the  contrary  the  express  direction 
to  set  them  at  liberty.  I  could  not  thus  make  the  exchange 
they  offered  of  the  eight  convicts  deserters  from  us  for  their 
slaves.  I  suggested  that  they  apply  to  their  own  Govern- 
ment for  a  statement  of  the  principles  set  forth  in  respect  of 
the  reciprocity  they  wish  to  establish  with  us,  and  that 
for  my  part,  I  should  do  the  same,  and  make  a  report  to  the 
council  of  their  request. 

From  the  expression  of  their  countenances,  they  were  very 
much  pleased  with  my  decision,  and  with  the  courtesy  shown 
them  during  the  week  they  remained  here  without  leaving 
my  side  for  a  single  moment,  and  so  returned  well  satisfied 
to  their  colonies,  giving  many  signs  of  gratitude  with  very 
courteous  compliments.  And  in  order  that  Your  Excellency 
may  be  informed  of  their  claims  and  of  the  answers  that  I 
gave  to  the  letters  they  brought,  I  send  Your  Excellency  cop- 
ies of  tlicir  letters,  and  of  one  of  mine,  these  being  all  alike 
on  the  principal  subject.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  receive  the 
approval  of  Your  Excellency  in  this  matter. 

Florida,  April  2,  1739. 


No.    151. 
Sir: 

Under  date  of  June  9,  Your  Excellency  is  good  enough 
to  tell  me,  that  by  royal  order  Your  Excellency  recommends 
the  same  course  as  that  decided  on  by  me  in  respect  of  the 
eight  convicts,  deserters,  and  that  in  consequence  it  seems 
indispensable  that  fresh  negotiations  should  be  opened  in 
the  matter.  Your  Excellency  further  directs  that  I  should 
communicate  their  results  separately  with  anything  else  that 
I  might  obtain  and  learn  on  good  foundation,  in  order  to 
make  report  to  his  Majesty.  Having  thus  a  royal  order  to 
bring  to  the  notice  of  the  commander  of  Carolina  under  some 
indifTerent  pretext.  Article  2  of  the  convention,  I  took  advan- 
tage of  it  to  send  a  launch  to  San  Jorge,  assuming  what 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  ?/ 

Your  Excellency  will  see  in  the  copy  herewith,  with  the 
Captain  of  Horse  Don  Pedro  Lamberto  aboard.  He 
was  to  consult  the  physicians  of  that  city  in  reg^ard  to 
the  serious  illness  of  a  girl  who  has  been  ailing  for  many 
years.  Having  executed  his  mission,  he  reports  to  me  that 
he  did  not  meet  Don  Diego  Ogletorp  in  San  Jorge,  to 
whom  as  commanding  General,  I  addressed  the  notice  in- 
viting his  attention  to  Article  2.  They  told  him  the  General 
was  absent  on  a  journey  of  more  than  300  miles,  for  which 
reason  he  delivered  my  despatches  to  his  lieutenant,  who 
though  invited  to,  nevertheless  declined  to  open  them,  ex- 
cusing himself  on  the  plea  that  he  had  been  ordered  only  to 
receive  despatches  of  whatsoever  nature,  and  to  send  them 
on,  which  he  did.  Having  receipted  for  the  despatches,  they 
gave  him  (Lamberto)  other  despatches  in  duplicate,  being 
an  answer  to  mine  that  I  sent  by  the  deputies  from  that  city 
and  their  Parliament.  A  copy  of  this  I  am  enclosing  for 
Your  Excellency's  information :  inviting  attention  to  the 
omission  of  all  mention  of  the  eight  convicts,  deserters.  As 
he  (Lamberto)  was  not  received  as  were  their  deputies  here, 
nor  was  allowed,  as  on  former  occasions,  to  walk  about  the 
place,  he  was  unable  to  learn  anything  worthy  of  commu- 
nication, except  that  in  the  first  settlements  he  was  better 
treated,  and  thus  could  learn  of  the  discord  prevailing  be- 
tween the  latest  squatters  and  the  people  of  San  Jorge,  and 
between  the  latter  and  Don  Diego  Ogletorp,  whose  su- 
preme command  they  refuse  to  recognize. 

I  believe  that  Don  Pedro  Lamberto's  restraint,  and  the 
refusal  to  allow  his  people  to  walk  about  are  due  to  the 
fears  of  the  negroes  in  which  they  live,  and  also  lest  some 
of  our  people  should  make  suggestions  or  incite  them  to 
flight,  a  thing  against  which  they  guard  mightily,  since  they 
depend  on  the  negroes  for  success  or  failure. 

This  is  all  I  have  to  send  to  Your  Excellency,  etc. 
Florida,  August  14,  1739. 

Since  writing  the  foregoing,  Don  Pedro  Lamberto  tells 
me  that  while  in  San  Jorge  he  met  Juan  Zevallos,  one  of  the 
eight  convicts  that  deserted  from  the  lime  kiln ;  that  he 
tried  to  return  with  him,  which  the  Governor  would  not  al- 
low: and  that  the  rest  go  about  freely  in  those  plantations, 
according  to  the  said  Zevallos.  I  have  caused  Don  Pedro 
Lamberto  to  certify  this  news,  and  I  am  sending  it  to  the 
Court,  with  copies  of  letters  treating  of  the  matter. 


j2  Lettei  s  of  Montiano 


No.  157. 
Sir: 

Don  Diego  Pablo  sends  me  despatches  from  Apalachee, 
savin.s:  that  he  has  learned  that  the  English  had  set  out  with 
more  than  100  negroes  to  build  a  fort;  that  the  negroes  rose, 
sle^Y  all  the  English,  and  hamstrung  all  the  horses ;  that  two 
large  bodies  of  Indians,  had  gone  forth,  one  in  the  direction 
of  the  road  to  San  Marcos,  and  the  other  toward  this  point. 
That  this  "news  comes  from  Ouilate,  and  that  he  was  inves- 
tigating everything  particularly,  and  where  they  intended 
to  build  the  fort;  that  the  negroes  had  scattered,  and  two 
of  them  (Portillo  says  four)  had  arrived  at  a  village  of  the 
Provinces,  and  afterwards  disappeared ;  that  they  asked  a 
few  Indians  encountered  in  the  woods,  the  road  to  the 
Spaniards ;  that  this  news  caused  him  much  anxiety.  It 
appears  to  me  that  the  fort  must  be  a  means  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Carolina  to  keep  the  negroes  from  deserting,  and 
that  having  rebelled,  troops  of  Indians  were  sent  out  after 
them,  and  so  the  news  causes  no  great  anxiety.  But  nev- 
ertheless, in  case  they  were  occupying  some  new  post  in 
violation  of  the  Convention,  I  sent  out  Don  Jose  Leonor  to 
reconnoiter,  and  he  has  returned  from  reconnoitering  St. 
Mary's,  and  I  have  scouts  in  other  parts. 

So  far  there  is  no  other  news ;  no  despatches  having  fol- 
lowed from  Apalachee,  there  is  nothing  to  fear :  Don  Di- 
ego Pablo  having  concealed  from  me  Quilate's  presence 
in  his  fort,  I  have  Juan  Ygnacio  there  with  three  other  In- 
dians and  two  or  three  Uchises  loyal  to  us. 

The  results  I  shall  communicate  promptly  to  Your  Excel- 
lency as  I  now  report  the  arrival  yesterday  of  a  sloop  from 
New  York. 

Florida,  Aug.  19,  1739. 


No.  180. 
Sir: 

In  letters  of  the  4  and  14  of  October  of  last  year,  I  gave 
Your  Excellency  an  exact  account  of  what  had  been  done 
in  these  parts  by  the  different  English  ships,  from  the  sec- 
ond day  of  the  said  month  and  year,  and*  I  have  now  to  in- 


•  A  considerable  portion  of  this  dispatch  beginning  at  this  point  is  to  be  found 
rnnslated  in  the  SoiilhTn  Qiiarterly  Review  for  April,  1^44,  pp.  394  et  seq.  This 
JranRla- ion  very  consideralily  modified  and  altered,  is  re])roduced  here,  with  omis- 
sions supplied  and  errors  correcte'l.     Tr. 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  jj 


form  \our  Excellency,  that  on  the  22d  of  December,  there 
arrived  at  this  place,  a  cavalry  soldier,  of  the  guard  of  St 
John's  Bar,  which  is  about  twelve  leagues  north  of  this  port 
who  says,  that  he  saw  the  tracks  of  25  or  35  men,  at  the  small 
creeks  about  half  way  of  the  road ;  and  immediately  another 
cavalry  soldier  of  the  same  guard,  came  with  the  news,  that 
one  of  our  Indians  had  reported,  that  on  the  banks  of  the 
St.  John's,  he  had  seen  the  tracks  of  more  than  three  hundred 
white   men. 

On  the  23d,  the  Ensign  of  cavalry  Don  Lorenzo  Joseph 
de  Leon,  and  one  soldier,  arrived  at  this  place  with  report 
of  having  seen  at  the  same  small  creeks,  a  great  number  of 
Indians,  and  white  people. 

On  the  24th  council  was  held  to  decide  whether  it  would 
be  advisable  to  demolish  the  fort  of  Diego,  or  reinforce  it, 
and  whether  our  force  was  sufficiently  strong  to  attack  the 
enemy.  We  resolved  to  send  a  relief  of  eleven  men,  and  that 
it  would  not  be  expedient  to  weaken  this  garrison,  for  the 
reasons  set  forth  in  the  minutes  of  the  council.  The  same 
day,  we  began  to  hasten  various  works  looking  to  the  se- 
curity, and  defence  of  the  place. 

On  the  25th,  a  trooper  came  in  and  some  of  our  Indians, 
bringing  intelligence,  that  they  had  discovered  the  fresh 
tracks  of  30  men,  at  the  distance  of  four  leagues  from  this 
place ;  and  Father  Francisco  Gomez,  parish  priest,  of  the 
village  of  Ayamon,  where  the  Indians  of  Pozatalaca  estab- 
lished themselves  last  year  to  cultivate  more  fertile  lands, 
reported  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  that  place,  seven  or 
eight  leagues  from  this,  about  10  Uchises  Indians  had  shown 
themselves. 

On  the  26th,  I  sent  the  Ensign  of  cavalry,  Don  Alonzo 
Joseph,  to  scout  the  country,  and  collect  all  the  cattle  pos- 
sible, to  be  crossed  to  Santa  Anastacia  Island ;  I  also  sent 
out  four  Indians  on  the  same  scouting  mission,  charging 
them  with  the  promise  of  twenty-five  dollars  to  take  an  En- 
glishman, or  hostile  Indian  prisoner.  In  the  afternoon,  the 
Ensign  returned  with  93  head  of  cattle,  and  I  sent  the  Sub- 
lieutenant Don  Manuel  Garcia,  in  four  small  boa-ts,  to  cut 
stakes  for  different  uses  of  the  Royal  service,  and  for  the 
defence  of  the  place. 

On  the  27th,  I  despatched  the  Ensign  Don  Antonio  So- 
lana,  to  bring  in  the  horses.  Don  Cristobal  de  Torres,  Bar- 
tolome  Ramirez,  and  other  residents  went  out  on  the  same 
business.     I  charged  Don  Francisco   Menendez.  and  other 


34  Letters  of  Montiano 


residents,  with  the  business  of  crossing  the  cattle  over  to 
Santa  Anastacia  Island  already  mentioned.  I  sent  the  In- 
dian Juan  Ygnacio,  with  five  other  Indians,  to  the  river  of 
Picotala,  which  is  that  called  St.  John's,  to  observe  the 
movements  of  the  enemy. 

On  the  28th,  I  sent  out  four  other  Indians  by  land,  on 
the  same  errand ;  and  in  the  night,  two  of  the  Indians  who 
went  with  Juan  Ygnacio,  returned  with  the  news,  that  on 
that  day.  the  fort  of  Picolata  was  attacked  by  240  English, 
and  Indians,  and  that  its  garrison  of  seven  men,  had  de- 
fended it  valiantly,  from  ten  in  the  morning,  till  5  in  the 
afternoon,  at  which  hour  the  enemy  made  a  shameful  re- 
treat. 

On  the  29th.  I  despatched  the  Cacique  Chislala,  with 
eight  Indians  of  his  choice,  to  scout  the  country,  and 
charged  to  take  hostile  Indian,  or  Englishman  prisoner  alive. 
This  same  day,  one  of  the  soldiers  in  the  affair  of  the  fort 
of  Picolata,  came  in  and  with  him  the  Indians  Juan  Ygnacio, 
and  Juan  Savina.  who  said  that  those  who  attacked  the  fort, 
were  150  English,  and  30  Indians,  that  the  fire  lasted  four 
hours ;  that  our  casualties  were  the  wounding  of  the  artillery- 
man and,  that  two  of  the  enemy  were  seen  to  fall,  one  of 
whom  appeared  to  be  an  of^cer,  for  he  wore  a  laced  hat,  and 
was  taken  ofT  by  four  men.  The  soldier  informed  me,  that 
the  fort  was  attacked  by  two  mortars  firing  large  shell  (Gre- 
nadas  Reales)  and  gave  me  a  few  splinters  of  those  that  fell 
within  the  fort. 

On  the  30th,  the  beforementioned  Father,  parish  priest  of 
Ayamon.  arrived  with  the  news,  that  on  the  29th  Uchises  In- 
dians had  killed  Fayaquisca,  in  the  neighborhood  of  that 
town.  On  this  same  day  the  four  Indians  sent  out  on  the 
26th,  returned,  and  informed  me,  that  having  been  at  St. 
Mateo,  which  is  on  the  St.  John's,  they  saw  the  tracks  of 
Indians  who  had  passed  back  and  forth,  and  though  they 
made  every  exertion  to  discover  whether  they  had  made,  or 
were  constructing  a  fort  in  the  vicinity  of  that  river,  they 
could  see  only  boats  going  to  this  part  of  the  Saint  John's, 
and  they  debated  whether  the  Indians  and  whites  lately 
seen  could  be  found  there,  because  the  tracks  of  the  Indians 
all  made  for  the  said  part  of  the  Saint  John's. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1740,  the  Cacique  Chislala  re- 
turned with  all  his  Indians,  and  assured  me  that  they  had 
been  to  the  St.  John's,  that  they  had  thoroughly  reconnoiter- 
cd  those  parts  and  had  seen  there  only  the  camps  (ranchos) 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  jj 


where  the  hostile  Indians  had  been,  and  that  according  to  the 
signs  left  behind  there  were  134  of  them.  They  made  thir- 
ty-six fires,  which  covered  the  English,  who'  were,  they 
thought,  in  number  200. 

On  the  7th,  I  despatched  Juan  Ygnacio,  and  Geronimo. 
with  three  other  Indians,  each  to  scout,  and  examine  the 
landing  places. 

On  the  8th,  the  artillery  man,  wounded  in  the  affair  of 
Picolata,  died.  The  same  day,  I  sent  Don  Pedro  Lambcrto 
Horrutiner  with  25  horsemen  of  his  company,  25  infantry, 
and  30  Indians  and  free  negroes  (of  those  who  are  fugitives 
from  the  English  Colonies),  to  scout  the  country,  and  use 
diligence  to  capture  a  few  Indian  scouts  who  are  supposed 
to  be  in  this  neighborhood,  and  they  returned  at  night  with- 
out any  news. 

On  the  13th,  the  parish  priest  of  the  before  mentioned 
town  of  Ayamon,  informed  me  that  at  9  in  the  morning,  they 
were  attacked  by  46  Uchises  Indians,  who  badly  wounded, 
and  scalped  an  Indian  who  was  outside  of  the  little  fort  they 
have  there. 

On  the  i8th,  the  Indian  Juan  Ygnacio  returned  with  some 
of  his  Indians,  and  report  having  seen  in  the  St.  John's  river, 
at  a  place  called  St.  Nicholas,  12  vessels  consisting  of  3 
schooners,  2  sloops,  and  7  canoes ;  and  that  it  seemed  to 
him  they  must  have  had  700  men  aboard.  This  day,  I  des- 
patched two  troopers,  with  two  Indians,  to  see  if  the  ves- 
sels landed  people  at  Salamatoto,  and  the  two  Indians  to 
pass  to  Picolata,  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 

On  the  19th,  the  Indian  Geronimo,  companion  of  Juan  Yg- 
nacio returned,  to  report  that  he  had  seen  in  the  St.  John's 
two  boats  which  kept  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  without 
moving;  it  is  a  question  if  they  are  posted  here  to  discover 
if  any  armament  of  our  enters  the  bar,  in  which  case  one 
would  be  detached  to  alarm  the  neighboring  Colonies,  and 
the  other  to  alarm  the  12  vessels  at  St.  Nicholas.  The  In- 
dians returned  who  went  out  yesterday,  and  say,  they  went 
near  to  Picolata  and  could  see  nothing ;  afterwards,  it  was 
discovered  that  these  two  Indians  did  not  go  half  the  way. 
The  two  troopers  who  went  out  with  them  reconnoitered 
the  estuary  of  Nicoloa,  and  finding  it  unoccupied  returned. 

On  the  same  19th  day,  I  sent  out  Laureano  Solana,  Ser- 
geant of  cavalry,  with  eight  soldiers,  and  four  Indians,  to 
discover  if  the  before  mentioned  boats  were  still  in  the 
Picolata  River,  and  whether  they  had  taken  the  fort  of  Pupo. 


j6  Letters  of  JSIontiano 


On  the  20th,  the  Sergeant  returned  at  i  in  the  morning, 
with  report  of  having  seen  a  great  number  of  men  and  fires 
at  Picolata ;  but  as  he  made  his  reconnaissance  at  night,  he 
could  not  see  the  fort,  nor  can  he  say  precisely  how  many 
men  there  were. 

On  the  same  day,  I  sent  out  Juan  Ygnacio,  and  eleven 
Indians,  to  make  proper  reconnoisance,  and  endeavor  to 
take  an  Indian,  or  Englishman  alive. 

On  the  21  St,  the  Indian  Juan  Ygnacio  returned  with  his 
party,  and  assured  me,  that  on  arriving  at  Picolata,  they 
found  the  fort  in  ashes,  and  from  there,  saw  that  the  En- 
glish vessels  were  near  the  Fort  of  Pupo.  That  all  about 
it,  were  many  people  in  red  coats  and  that  the  said  fort  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  for  they  saw  many  people  go  out 
and  in,  up  and  down.  ,     , 

On  the  22d,  I  despatched  Diego  de  Espinosa,  who  is  a  resi- 
dent of  this  place,  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  with 
six  cavalrymen  to  reconnoiter,  and  mark  the  landings  of 
St.  John's,  St.  Matheo,  and  St.  Nicholas. 

On  the  24th,  Diego  de  Espinosa  returned,  with  the  six 
troopers  that  accompanied  him,  who  reports  that  he  saw- 
three  soldiers'  tents  on  the  St.  John's,  opposite  St.  Nicholas. 
He  endeavored  to  get  near  to  discover  what  they 
contained,  but  hearing  the  discharge  of  a  gun,  which  ap- 
peared to  be  a  signal  that  his  party  was  discovered,  he  re- 
tired quickly,  fearing  lest  they  should  cut  off  his  retreat. 

On  the  27th,  I  sent  out  the  Lieutenant  of  cavalry,  Don 
Romualdo  Ruiz  del  Moral,  with  25  horsemen,  25  Indians 
and  25  free  negroes,  to  scour  the  country,  to  reconnoiter 
Picolata  and  Pupo,  and  with  the  greatest  circumspection, 
and  precaution,  to  make  a  most  serious  effort  to  capture 
an  Indian,  or  Englishman  alive,  by  attacking  those  on  this 
side  if  it  could  be  done,  having  due  regard  for  the  prudence 
necessary  in  a  viglant  march,  and  for  an  exact  examination 
of  the  river,  in  order  to  estimate  the  n;uTiber  of  people  on 
this  side.  And  according  to  information  acquired,  he  was  to 
attack  them  or  not,  or  annoy  them  on  some  side,  at  no  special 
risk. 

On  the  29th,  the  Lieutenant  Don  Romualdo  Ruiz  del  Mor- 
al returned  with  his  party,  with  report  that  they  reached 
the  landing  of  Picolata,  but  could  not  on  account  of  rain 
and  fog,  inform  themselves  of  the  state  of  the  fort  of  Pupo, 
but  they  thought  they  saw  it,  and  heard  the  sound  of  a  drum 


Siege  of  SI.  Augustine  jy 


from  it.*  In  this  state  of  affairs  I  am  compelled  to  send 
Your  Excellency  shortly  our  launch  with  this  intelligence 
so  that  in  possession  of  it,  and  of  orders  from  the  King, 
Your  Excellency  may  see  fit  to  take  all  the  steps  suitcJ  to 
the  victualling  and  fortification  of  this  place,  points  in  re- 
spect of  which  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  do  anything 
whatever  here. 

As  regards  the  said  river  St.  John's  or  Picolata,  it  is  an 
arm  of  the  sea  some  three  quarters  of  a  league  in  width, 
measured  accurately  by  different  Engineers,  entering  over 
the  bar  of  the  same  name,  and  emptying  at  the  entrance 
of  Apalachee,  or  the  southern  Coast,  according  to  the  belief 
of  the  most  experienced  Indians.  I  declare  categorically 
that  I  have  no  naval  forces  to  oppose  to  the  enemy's ;  but 
having  them,  it  were  easy  to  introduce  them  over  the  same 
bar,  to  go  out  to  meet  the  enemy  and  punishing  him  severe- 
ly, to  guard  these  dominions.  Lacking  such  forces  how- 
ever, there  is  no  remedy,  and  that  is  precisely  why  I  have 
not  sent  out  by  land,  a  large  detachment,  for  it  would  re- 
quire at  the  same  time,  a  strong  expedition  by  sea.  Now 
supposing  the  English  should  blockade  this  position,  as 
they  have  threatened,  and  should  for  the  success  of  this 
plan  make  a  great  effort  to  attack  the  forts  of  Picolata  and 
Pupo,  as  a  feint  to  force  me  to  throw  out  a  large  body  of 
troops,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that,  being  with  their  Indian 
allies  masters  of  the  country,  they  would  endeavor  strenu- 
ously to  cut  their  (our  troops')  communications  with  us.  If 
unfortunately  these  should  fail  to  retire  in  good  order,  the 
English  would  then  with  slight  opposition  and  no  hindrance 
force  the  entrance  of  the  Port  with  their  boats,  keeping  them 
ready  for  this  purpose  in  the  channels  running  from  the 
aforementioned  bar  of  Saint  John  into  the  interior  which 
would  be  under  their  control. 

They  would  thus  take  possession  of  this  position  with 
great  ease,  seeing  there  would  be  no  one  to  defend  it,  if  they 
had  first  routed  our  troops. 

Moreover,  even  if  I  had  without  any  zeal  come  to  such 
a  decision,  one  that  I  should  myself  call  rash  and  illogical, 
no  glory  would  have  befallen  our  arms.  For  the  English 
controlling  the  said  St.  John's  with  their  heavy  launches  able 
to  carrv  guns  of  medium  caliber,  and  being  thus  enabled  to 
enter  this  river  and  give  support  at  any  time  by  these  same 


*  The  extract  in  the  Southern  Quarterly  Review  ends  here.    Tr. 


j8  Letters  of  Montiano 


channels  intersecting  the  land  of  their  islands  from  bar  to 
bar  as  far  as  that  of  Puerto  Real  fifty  leagues  distant,  no 
effort  not  maritime  in  character  was  of  the  slightest  use. 
In  respect  of  the  danger  that  I  have  mentioned,  even  if  their 
troops  in  these  parts  had  been  disembarked  and  had  allow- 
ed ours  to  approach  within  gun-shot  range,  they  could  have 
played  us  the  trick  of  jumping  aboard  the  small  boats,  and  of 
opening  fire  from  the  larger  ones,  and  so  beat  us  in  a  piteous 
fashion.  ,And  then  this  place  would  have  been  in  a  worse 
state  than  it  was  before  the  reenforcement,  which  would  have 
given  rise  to  the  royal  displeasure,  and  would  have  been  the 
beginning  of  its  ultimate  destruction. 

These  are  not  the  only  reasons  ins])ired  by  the  safeguard- 
ing of  this  position,  for  I  have  others  palpably  of  equal  im- 
portance and  weight.  For  under  the  supposition  that  neith- 
er Your  Excellency  nor  I  have  received  orders  from  the 
ring  leading  us  to  believe  that  the  English  would  occupy 
the  seas  with  their  ships,  my  duty  first  of  all  is  to  economize 
the  stores  of  this  place  so  that  its  inhabitants  may  not  per- 
ish. And  I  may  remark  most  frankly  to  Your  Excellency 
that  nothing  expends  them  so  much  as  detachments :  and  for 
one  of  importance,  such  as  would  be  the  case  with  sending 
400  or  500  men,  through  deserts,  uncultivated  thickets,  im- 
penetrable and  dangerous  woods  possibly  occupied  by  the 
enemy,  certain  special  supplies  would  be  indispensable,  which 
could  not  be  furnished  without  serious  loss  for  the  future, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  sally  being  probably  fruitless. 

To  the  important  end  of  keeping  this  place  for  His  Ma- 
jesty, of  supplying  and  strengthening  it  as  much  as  possible, 
I  have  had  recourse  to  Your  Excellency  on  various  oc- 
casions :  and  I  now  with  the  greatest  emphasis  repeat  my 
supplications,  begging  Your  Excellency  to  help  it  with  all 
that  is  needful  to  this  end,  in  conformity  with  the  orders 
which  the  King  has  given  Your  Excehency  for  this  purpose. 

I  further  declare  to  Your  Excellency  that  to  the  excellent 
strong  reasons  why  Your  Excellency  should  give  it  at- 
tention, must  be  added  at  the  same  time  the  lamentable 
circumstance  that  this  place  has  gone  without  pay  since 
'36,  as  Your  Excellency  must  know.  *For  the  agent  who 
went  over  to  receive  it,  Don  Pedro  de  Escobedo,  since  the 
beginning  of  '37  neither  has  arrived  here  nor  do  we  know 
his  whereabouts  ;  there  is  a  melancholy  rumor  that  he  has 


•  This  passage  is  obscure  in  llie  original.    Tr. 


i^?^-./. 


MA 


The    w  k  s  t  h  h 


I ///f/ //{///, 


()  R 


A  N  r  I  c  K    o  rr  i^  ^ 


CO 


^  \-iy''h/^ 


r^;?^  . 


The    W  >:  s  t  k  r  > , 


'A? 


()  R 


FLORiDlA    \      ATI.ANTICK    O  C  t:  ^ 

X 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  jg 


been  shipwrecked  or  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  EngHsh. 
All  these  reasons  induce  me  humbly  to  supplicate  Your  Ex- 
cellency to  take  the  measures  so  urgently  needed  to  supply 
and  fortify  this  place  as  the  King  desires :  in  the  mean  time 
I  shall  apply  myself  diligently  to  its  preservaton  with  the 
greatest  zeal  and  firmness,  even  to  giving  up  my  life  with  it, 
according  to  my  oath  made  and  sworn  to  His  Majesty. 

1  likewise  invite  Your  Excellency's  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  two  aforesaid  forts  of  Picolata  and  Pupo  were  con- 
structed solely  for  the  purpose  of  defending  and  sheltering 
from  the  continual  attacks  of  Indian  allies  of  the  English, 
the  mails  that  go  to  and  come  from  Apalachee,  and  that 
both  were  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  aforesaid  St.  John's, 
one  to  the  north  and  the  other  to  the  south,  at  a  distance 
of  three-quarters  of  a  league,  the  width  of  the  river,  without 
being  able  to  help  each  other.  In  spite  of  being  small  and 
built  of  wood,  they  have  defended  themselves  various  times 
against  the  Indians  that  have  attacked  them.  Even  now 
that  of  Picolata  resisted  four  or  five  hours  in  spite  of  being 
invested  by  more  than  200  men.  The  garrison  being  com- 
pelled by  the  destruction  of  the  fort  through  shell  fire,  took 
advantage  of  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  their  chief  so  they 
say,  having  been  killed,  to  shelter  itself  behind  Pupo,  until  by 
my  order  it  withdrew  to  this  place  in  the  same  canoe  tliat 
took  it  over,  by  a  channel  that  empties  (into  the  river)  three 
leagues  away.  The  said  fort  of  Pupo  defended  itself  va- 
liantlv  nearly  two  days :  for  although  at  this  moment  I  do 
not  know  where  its  garrison  is,  ten  men  and  a  sergeant  with 
an  Indian  kept  to  report  on  anything  unusual,  yet  partisans 
who  went  out  there  during  those  two  days,  tell  me  they 
heard  much  obstinate  and  continuous  artillery  fire,  until 
on  the  second  day,  at  about  half-past 'two  of  the  afternoon, 
they  heard  a  salvo  of  seven  guns,  and  that  afterward  the  fire 
ceased.  I  am  deeply  grieved  over  the  loss  of  those  twelve 
men,  without  being  able  to  take  any  satisfaction,  for  al- 
though! gave  the  commander  a  written  order  to  defnd  him- 
self with  honor  if  attacked,  and  only  in  case  of  lack  of  am- 
munition and  stores,  t  capitulate  life  and  arms  safe,  so  as 
to  return  to  this  place  with  honor,  yet  it  would  seem  as 
though  they  had  suffered  from  some  perfidy,  whose  purpose 
so  far  I  am  ignorant  of. 

I  have  no  more  to  report  on  these  matters  to  Your  Ex- 
cellency whose  obedient  servant  I  am.  etc. 

Florida,  January  31,  I740- 


40  Letters  of  Mcnliano 


No.  i8i. 
Sir: 

From  the  journal  herewith  Your  Excellency  will  under- 
stand the  operations  of  the  English,  and  how  they  showed 
themselves  on  December  22,  near  San  Juan,  coming  no 
farther  in  than  the  little  creeks.  As  I  believe  they  might  pro- 
ceed to  the  attack  of  the  fort  of  San  Diego,  I  increased  its 
garrison,  with  the  understanding  that  if  invested  in  regular 
form,  it  would  be  surrendered  in  short  time,  by  reason  of 
its  faulty  construction,  lack  of  a  ditch,  and  possession  of 
but  two  ramparts  opposed  to  the  enemy,  (which  Espinosa  had 
thought  am])le,  when  he  built  the  work  to  shelter  his  slaves 
against  Indian  surprises)  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that 
situated  as  it  was  at  a  league  from  the  landing,  it  could  not 
be  succored  save  at  much  risk,  on  account  of  the  country 
being  open  and  flat :  and  it  was  perhaps  not  the  intention  of 
the  enemy  to  attack  it;  but,  in  case  I  sent  some  small  body 
equal  in  number  to  that  seen  in  the  creeks,  to  surprise  this 
body  in  the  plain,  inclosing  it  from  the  woods  surroundng 
the  fort,  and  so  destroy  it.  Accordingly  I  remained  easy  on 
this  score  until  I  got  better  information  as  to  their  numbers 
from  the  scouts  that  I  kept  outside ;  and  in  this  condition  of 
affairs  I  got  news  that  on  the  28th,  150  Englishmen  and  In- 
dians had  attacked  Picolata,  having  with  them  two  standards, 
chests,  and  two  mortars  for  shells.  Two  of  these  (shells) 
fell  inside  the  fort,  and  finished  its  ruin,  shored  up  as  it  was 
and  ready  to  fall:  at  the  first  fire,  the  gun  was  dismounted, 
and  nevertheless  they  maintained  themselves  with  valor  from 
ten  in  the  morning  to  five  in  the  afternoon,  when  they  (the 
enemy)  retired  with  a  few  wounded,  among  them  an  officer. 
The  defenders  seeing  the  bad  condition  of  the  fort,  aban- 
doned it,  fearing  the  return  of  the  enemy  in  greater  force, 
or  lest  it  fall  upon  them. 

On  otir  side  the  artilleryman  was  wounded  in  the 
ff)ot  by  a  musket  ball  from  which  he  died  there. 

On  the  18th  as  a  detachment  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  con- 
victs was  about  to  set  out  to  rebuild  the  fort  of  Picolata,  I 
ordered  it  to  suspend  its  march  until  the  return  of  Juan  Yg- 
nacio,  who  had  gone  out  to  reconnoiter  the  river.  The  same 
day  he  returned,  reporting  having  seen  coming  into  the 
river,  3  schooners,  2  sloops  and  2  canoes  heavily  laden  and 
filled  with  people,  the  greater  part  dressed  in  red,  in  his 
opinion  some  700  men.  It  appeared  to  me  that  this  expedi- 
tion was  directed  against  the  fort  at  Pupo,  and  as  neither 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  41 


my  forces  nor  its  situation  were  sufficient,  nor  admitted  of 
sending  any  support,  I  undertook  nothing  from  the  impos- 
sibility of  the  case. 

From  the  reports  of  the  scouts  there  is  reason  to  bchcvc 
that  10  men  and  one  sergeant  garrisoning  Pupo  held  out 
two  days,  because  for  that  length  of  time  cannon  fire  never 
ceased;  and  that  the  Indian  who  was  within  to  bring  news, 
must  either  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  or  was 
unable  to   come   out. 

In  this  conjuncture,  wishing  to  know  if  they  were  forti- 
fying on  this  side,  Espinosa  told  me  at  San  Nicholas,  the 
narrowest  part  of  the  river  some  16  leagues  from  here,  he 
had  discovered  three  tents,  and  many  people,  but  not  a  single 
boat :  that  trying  to  approach  the  bank,  he  heard  various  gun- 
shot :  and  as  that  part  of  the  country  is  shaped  like  a  horse- 
shoe, he  withdrew  to  a  point  of  safety,  asking  himself  if  the 
advance  guards  were  making  signals.  He  assures  me  that 
no  other  inexperienced  person  would  have  gone  forth,  be- 
cause of  the  musket  fire. 

As  for  the  sight  of  troops  in  San  Nicholas,  I  believe  they 
were  fortifying  at  that  point,  because  of  the  care  they  took 
not  to  be  seen,  and  because  the  place  is  advantageous  and 
narrow. 

The  difficulty  of  getting  information  in  our  numerous 
thickets,  lagoons  and  swamps,  is  so  great  as  to  make  the 
thing  almost  impossible ;  absolutely  none  but  Spaniards  can 
succeed  here  without  risk  of  loss  or  of  useless  effort,  be- 
cause it  is  necessary  to  advance  through  water  the  greater 
part  of  the  da}',  and  even  the  Indians  are  unavailable,  be- 
cause they  are  so  few  in  number. 

The  harassing  of  the  Uchises,  who  go  down  to  the  south- 
ern coasts  looking  for  slaves,  and  returning  pass  through 
Ayamon  or  las  Rosas,  where  the  Yamases  have  established 
themselves,  has  caused  a  withdrawal  to  this  point :  to  leave 
the  fort  is  to  invite  death.  We  are  thus  surrounded  by  en- 
emies, unable  to  leave  the  place  without  danger.  As  long 
as  our  territory  is  not  peopled,  thus  driving  out  the  English, 
the  chief  cause  of  these  evils,  these  Provinces  will  have  no 
rest. 

Our  residents  cause  me  much  annoyance,  for  most  of  them 
ask  permission  to  go  to  that  city  (Habana)  alleging  the  lack 
of  food  from  which  they  are  suffering,  as  well  as  that  to  which 
they  will  be  subjected  v/ith  the  continuance  of  the  Vvar,  and 
also  the  misfortunes  and  privations  due  to  the  lack  of  pay. 


Letters  of  Montiano 


Although  these  reasons  are  sound,  and  might  induce  m?  to 
senil  away  hence  all  useless  mouths,  yet  the  total  absence 
of  all  information  as  to  the  state  the  present  differences  may 
produce,  keeps  me  from  approving  them.  As  it  is  the  wish 
of  the  King  that  these  provinces  be  peopled,  it  is  clear  he 
would  be  displeased  if  any  one  were  allowed  to  withdraw. 
Moreover,  it  will  be  very  difificult  to  make  them  return  once 
away,  and  the  burden  will  be  extreme  if  this  position  should 
be  besieged  on  account  of  the  small  enclosure  of  the  cas- 
tle, and  the  scarcity  of  food.  For  all  these  reasons  the  roy- 
al oiincers  and  I  after  conferences  have  decided  that  for  the 
present  no  one  shall  be  allowed  to  move,  until  better  infor- 
mation enables  us  to  come  to  some  settlement. 
Florida,  January  31,   1740. 


No.  187. 
Sir: 

I  profit  by  the  delay  in  the  departure  of  our  launcii,  caused 
by  the  uncertainty  of  the  times,  and  running  from  the  15th 
instant,  to  inform  Your  Excellency  of  the  return  last  night 
of  Juan  Ygnacio.  I  sent  him  out  on  the  19th  with  ten  oth- 
er working  Indians  on  the  important  mission  of  recon- 
noitering  the  country  and  river  near  Picolata,  and  notwith- 
standing my  most  particular  instructions,  and  ofifer  of  a 
suitable  reward  for  the  capture  of  an  Englishman  or  Indian 
ally,  so  that  I  might  learn  something  in  respect  of  the  con 
ditions'  surrounding  the  settlers  of  those  colonies,  and  of 
their  ideas  and  intentions,  the  said  Juan  Ygnacio  tells  me 
he  could  not  so  freely  carry  out  this  plan,  because  at  the 
very  outset  he  encountered  a  thousand  difficulties.  Having 
put  out  of  the  inlet  of  Tocoy,  which  empties  into  the  Saint 
John's,  in  a  small  canoe  which  he  kept  hidden  there,  he  went 
south  along  the  banks  thereabouts  so  as  better  to  carry  out 
his  ideas.  While  carefully  proceeding  thus,  he  discovered 
a  scow  moored  on  the  very  banks  he  was  skirting,  and  de- 
ciding they  could  be  seen  in  spite  of  the  thiclc  mist,  they  p  ' 
about,  and  landing  a  little  farther  back,  divided  into  t\' 
squads.  They  then  approached  the  English,  who  were  in- 
side an  orange  grove  collecting  the  fruit  thereof,  and  who 
on  being  fired  at,  hastily  took  flight.  As  they  were  assemb- 
ling <^o  go  on  board  the  scow,  our  Indians  who  were  following 
at  luil  speed,  opened  a  continuous  fire  on  them  from  the 
shelter  of  the  pine  tree  trunks,  killing  at  least  two  of  them, 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  ,;j 


and  possibly  more.  For  the  first  to  fall  havinrj  been  the 
helmsman,  they  carefully  observed  that  no  one  took  to  the 
oars;  the  Indians  keeping  up  an  incessant  fire  on  the  mass 
of  those  who  were  rowing,  and  growing  more  and  more 
absorbed  in  the  struggle,  heard  a  cannonshot  fired,  and  dis- 
covered that  it  had  proceeded  from  a  schooner  painted  red, 
coming  up  under  sail  from  the  south  on  the  river  itself,  and 
having  many  people  on  board,  part  of  whom  undertook  to 
disembark.  On  remarking  this,  they  (the  Indians)  with- 
drew to  a  place  of  safety,  and  night  coming  on,  they  returned 
to  this  Presidio  with  the  loss  of  their  canoe,  the  recovery 
of  which  was  impossible  by  reason  of  the  danger  involved. 

In  respect  of  all  this,  I  must  tell  Your  Excellency  that  the 
English  have  occupied  with  their  boats  the  entire  river  at 
Picolata,  and  that  their  navigation  southward  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  embarrassing  communication  with  Apalachee,  of 
winning  over  the  Uchises,  and  of  capturing  any  mail  coming 
or  going.  And  as  our  suffering  this  state  of  afifairs  is  a  re- 
buff of  His  Majesty's  sacred  honor,  a  foul  stain  on  his  cath- 
olic arms,  and  an  insult  exciting  the  rage  of  our  nation,  I 
humbly  supplicate  Your  Excellency  to  be  good  enough  to 
send  me  here  the  galliots  of  the  expedition  well  manned  with 
good  crews,  under  a  mariner  of  proved  valor  and  skill,  for 
without  this  help,  it  is  a  physical  impossibility  for  me  to  car- 
ry out  my  plans,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  shall  see  our- 
selves shut  up  in  a  corner,  without  a  single  man  that  dares 
leave  the  place  for  any  purpose  whatever.  For  both  rea- 
sons, there  will  ensue  the  fatal  results  consequent  on  a  lack 
of  whatever  small  matters  a  commonwealth  needs  for  its 
preservation.  Heeding  these  matters  and  the  glory  of  the 
King  in  satisfaction  for  his  insults,  I  renew  Your  Excel- 
lency the  suggestions  looking  to  the  maintenance  and  pre- 
servation of  this  fortress,  and  to  our  most  complete  amends. 

At  the  same  time,  I  supplicate  Your  Excellency  to  be 
good  enough  to  order  the  sending  here  of  two  three-fold 
blocks  with  a  hundred  fathoms  of  hawser  instead  of  the  fifty 
that  I  asked  on  the  15th  instant. 

In  order  that  Your  Excellency  may  remain  in  no  doubt, 
respecting  my  plans,  I  have  to  report  that  on  the  river  St. 
John's  or  Picolata  there  is  a  stretch  called  Mojoloa  such 
that,  according  to  the  people  who  know  the  country,  all  boats 
trying  to  go  south  on  the  said  river,  whether  to  succor  Pupo, 
or  to  dominate  it  on  all  sides  by  maritime  force,  would  be 
necessarily  exposed  to  musket  fire.     For  although  the  river 


44  Letters  of  Montiano 


is  quite  wide  along  li^rc,  the  channel  runs  very  close  to  the 
said  stretch,  the  rest  being  shoal  impassible  even  by  a  small 
boat. 

Seeing  that  a  fort  here  with  six  or  seven  eight-pounders, 
and  a  garrison  of  fifty  men  under  a  captain  would  shut  in 
Pupo  be3'ond  all  possibility  of  succor,  I  have  resolved  to 
carry  out  this  idea ;  and  to  that  end  beg  Your  Excellency 
for  the  galliots  which  alone  can  execute  it,  transport  the 
artillery,  free  the  river  of  hostile  boats,  capture  those  already 
in  it,  and  recover  the  fort  at  Pupo,  since  its  garrison  would 
surrender  without  assault.  These  results  accomplished,  I 
shall  bring  the  galliots,  or  some  of  them,  to  this  port,  for 
the  defense  of  its  bar,  and  strive  to  induce  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  Indians  available  to  go  and  settle  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  new  fort  of  Mojoloa,  and  cause  the  set- 
tlers to  go  forth  with  their  slaves  to  continue  the  cultivation 
of  the  plantations  they  have  been  developing  these  past  two 
years.  The  approval  of  these  ideas  by  Your  Excellency 
would  give  me  the  liveliest  satisfaction ;  and  I  hope  Your 
Excellency  will  be  good  enough  to  send  me  the  help  I  am 
asking  for,  jealous  as  Your  Excellency  is  of  the  better  ser- 
vice o[  the  King,  and  interested  in  the  growth  of  these  pro- 
vinces in  virtue  of  their  having  been  entrusted  to  you  by  His 
Majesty,  principally,  doubtless,  because  of  the  many  proofs 
Your  Excellency  has  given  of  great  talents,  leadership  and 
firmness. 

Florida,  February  2-^,  1740. 

Postscript. 

Sir: 

The  English  have  gone  in  boats  as  far  as  Pirigirigua  15 
leagues  south  of  this,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  they  are 
seeking  an  exit  to  the  Keys,  such  as  it  is  possible  this  un- 
known river  may  have,  and  to  the  Bay  of  Carlos  and  Tam- 
pa. This  would  be  most  hurtful  to  us,  and  even  if  the  honor 
of  our  arms  is  of  no  concern,  it  is  important  to  drive  them 
out  of  the  river ;  this  calls  for  a  sea  force,  under  whose  pro- 
tection the  pass  would  be  closed  to  them,  and  introduction 
made  impossible :  without  such  forces  nothing  can  be  done. 
I  trust  that  Your  Excellency's  zeal  in  the  royal  service  will 
give  the  help  I  am  begging,  so  that  this  place  may  be  freed 
of  the  restraint  from  which  it  is  sufifering. 


Siege  of  Si.  Augustine  ^j 


No.  191. 
Sir: 

In  a  letter  of  the  23d  of  last  month  I  reported  to  Your 
Excellency  all  that  had  occurred  up  to  that  date,  and  among 
other  matters,  Your  Excellency  must  have  noticed  the  plan 
of  building  a  new  fort  on  the  river  St.  John's  at  the  part  called 
Mojoloa,  in  order  to  attack  the  passage  of  English  boats, 
the  river  being  narrow  here,  and  the  boats  exposed  to  mus- 
ket fire,  since  the  channel  runs  close  in. 

But  as  it  seemed  to  me  that  such  a  determination  should 
not  be  put  into  execution  without  examining  the  country 
in  question,  I  sent  the  Engineer  Don  Pedro  Ruiz  de  Olano, 
escorted  by  the  Captain  of  cavalry  Don  Pedro  Lamberto, 
25  men  of  his  company  and  10  trusthworthy  Indians,  to 
make  a  most  formal  reconnaissance.  The  party  left  the  9th 
inst.,  and  returned  the  12th  ;  the  Engineer  tells  me  he  made  a 
careful  survey  of  Mojoloa,  and  found  it  as  reported  to  me, 
except  the  broad  shoal  running  over  to  the  other  side  of 
the  river  carries  more  water  than  was  said;  for  a  fall  of  a 
half  yard*  having  been  noted  at  the  bank,  still  the  entire 
shoal  was  covered.  Having  determined  this,  they  went  on 
to  inspect  the  narrows  of  San  Nicolas,  and  remarking  that 
here  the  ground  runs  hard  from  one  bank  to  the  other  at 
musket  range  and  a  little  more,  they  decided  that  no  other 
place  would  be  so  suitable  for  a  fort  as  this,  especially  with 
the  addition  of  a  chain  or  estacade  to  close  the  passage. 
According  to  the  turn  of  events,  it  might  be  decided  to  build 
a  fort  on  the  other  bank,  thus  providing  for  a  cross  fire, 
and  here  establish  communication  with  Apalachee. 

With  respect  to  all  this,  I  have  to  say  to  Your  Excellency 
that  as  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  execute  my  ideas  with- 
out sea  forces,  I  am  sending  in  this  launch  of  Ojeda's,  Cap- 
tain Don  Manuel  Montero  de  Villasante  to  Habana,  to  de- 
scribe vividly  to  Your  Excellency  if  no  sea  forces  are  sup- 
plied, all  the  difficulties  of  this  plan,  of  our  purpose  of  re- 
capturing Pupo,  of  making  the  river  safe,  and  relieving  us 
of  anv  attempt  the  English  may  make  from  Picolata.  whence 
the  distance  to  this  point  is  least.  For  although  most  vig- 
orous warm  affairs  are  taking  place  every  day.  it  is  useless 
to  expect  any  advantageous  result  so  long  as  they  control 
the  river  with  their  boats.     And  apart  from  the  fact  that  anv 

*  Media  Vara:  exactly  which  Vara  i-^  meant  here,  there  ■:«=  of  course  no  means  of 
knowing.    The  Cuban  Vara  is  33''. 3*56.    Tr. 


^6  J.etters  of  Montiano 


Other  plan  would  be  useless,  and  that  this  one  itself  would 
naturally  be  inefificient.*  however  well  thought  of,  prudence 
and  forethought  call  for  the  conservation  of  such  stores  as 
we  have,  for  without  them  this  garrison  can  not  subsist. 
And  when  Your  Excellency  understands  that  it  is  now  over 
a  week  since  those  that  came  from  Habana,  are  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  small  quantity  of  corn,  exhausted,  Your  Ex- 
cellcnc}-  will  easily  realize  that  nothing  else  so  much  deserves 
our  attention  as  the  economy  and  good  management  of  our 
stores,  in  order  to  avoid  exposure  to  irreparable  harm. 
In  view  of  what  I  have  suggested,  I  humbly  beseech  Your 
Excellency  to  condescend  to  be  willing  to  send  me  the  help 
I  asked  for  in  my  letter  of  February  23,  for  this  is  the  only 
way  to  bring  about  an  honorable  solution,  and  the  other 
favorable  results  mentioned.  And  I  especially  again  request 
that  the  small  boats  Your  Excellency  may  send  should  be 
well  manned  by  skilled  sailors  and  commanded  by  a  man  of 
intelligence  and  valor,  and  well  supplied  with  stores ;  and 
that  all  that  can  be  sent  to  this  garrison  should  come  as 
quickly  as  possible,  in  order  that  the  English  may  not  again 
repeat  the  occupation  of  our  coast  with  their  squadrons, 
leaving  us  unprovided,  without  power  of  revictualing  or  of 
communication. 

I  beg  leave  most  sincerely  to  assure  Your  Excellency  that 
I  am  actuated  and  inspired  by  no  other  motive  than  the  most 
punctilious  resolution  to  maintain  the  luster  of  our  arms, 
the  glory  of  God  first,  and  the  protection  of  these  provinces, 
with  the  welfare  of  the  garrison  next.  In  this  point  of  view, 
and  without  any  concern  on  my  part  for  any  worldly  in- 
terest. Your  Excellency  may  entrust  the  operations  to  any 
person  whatsoever  in  whom  Your  Excellency  may  lip.ve  con- 
fidence, and  satisfaction,  to  conduct  them  independently  of 
me,  according  to  the  conditions  of  the  expedition  projected 
against  Georgia  after  the  equinox  of  March,  1737.  My 
co-operation  will  be  limited  solely  to  offering  accurate  ad- 
vice on  the  state  of  the  country,  and  to  giving  him  all  the 
benefit  possible  resulting  from  experience.  I  desire  nothing 
but  the  best  service  of  the  King:  under  this  assumption.  Your 
Excellency  may  make  any  disposition  suggested  by  your 
great  prudence  and  lofty  talents.  I  ofYer  with  all  my  heart 
the  most  cheerful  compliance  with  any  method  and  regula- 


•  I'resiiitiahlv,  without  the  iKiv.nl  reFOurces  for  wliicli  Don  M.imiel  is  pleading. 

Tr. 


Siege  of  Si.  Augustine  ^7 


tions  imposed  by  Your  Excelelncy  on  the  person  selected 
for  these  operations,  without  resistance  of  alteration  on 
my  part,  agreeing  to  observe  them  inviolable  in  the  spirit 
and  harmony  demanded  by  the  King  for  the  effective  execu- 
tion of  the  former  expedition  just  mentioned.  And  I  say 
the  same  of  anything  else  Your  Excellency  may  deem  best 
suited  to  the  successful  issue  of  the  present  (trouble).  For 
my  soul  holds  no  thought  foreign  to  the  service  of  God  and 
the  honor  of  the  King,  in  the  firm  belief  that  Your  Excellen- 
cy's great  discretion  and  approved  character  will  adopt  the 
most  harmonious  proper  measures. 

From  the  cautious  procedure  of  the  English  it  follows 
that  until  this  year  we  have  had  no  news  from  our  capital : 
it  follows  also  that  without  intending  it,  they  have  got  the 
better  of  us,  even  when  we  believed  that  they  were  keeping 
the  good  faith  set  forth  in  the  preliminaries  of  the  conven- 
tion of  January  14  and  15  of  the  last  year.  It  being  the  de- 
sign of  the  King,  as  Your  Excellency  may  see  from  the  copy 
herevvith,  that  we  should  fix  our  attention  on  the  operations 
of  the  English  of  Carolina  merely  to  check  their  plans  and 
progress  in  the  territory  of  our  provinces,  using  force  if 
necessary,  and  having  applied  to  Your  Excellency,  as  to  the 
Viceroy  of  New  Spain,  for  all  that  was  needful  for  this  pur- 
pose, I  find  myself  under  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  Your 
Excellency,  the  only  person  that  can  give  me  the  assistance 
I  must  have,  with  the  promptness  required  by  the  present 
urgency.  For  without  this  assis.tance,  it  is  clear  I  shall  be 
able  neither  to  offer  any  resistance,  nor  to  take  any  satis- 
faction, since  I  lack  sea  forces,  and  therefore,  stores,  boats, 
and  seamen  for  their  organization. 

Florida,  March  24,  1740. 


No.  192. 
Sir: 

I  am  convinced  that  my  continued  requests  must  be 
very  annoying  to  Your  Excellency ;  but  I  am  also  convinced 
that  Your  Excellency's  prudence,  lofty  talents,  and  zeal  in 
the  royal  service,  will  cause  Your  Excellency  to  forgive  mv 
frequent  applications,  on  considering  the  necessities,  the 
unhappy  situation,  and  the  misfortunes  of  this  wretched 
garrison.  If  Your  Excellency  does  not  soon  rescue  it 
from  its  afflictions,  I  contemplate  it  as  lost  in  the  future. 
Under  this  view  then,  and  with  regard  to  the  recent  progress 
of  the  enemv,  it  seems  proper  to  me  that  we  should  check  it. 


^  Letters  of  Montiano 


And  to  that  end,  T  bes^  Your  Excellency  to  make  the  greatest 
effort  to  send  small  boats  for  service  in  the  river  of  St. 
John's,  thus  compelling  them  to  abandon  it.  This  result 
can  be  accomplished  by  our  seizing  the  pass  of  San  Nicholas, 
one  bank  or  the  other,  (as  may  suit),  fortifying  them  as  a 
shelter  for  the  boats,  and  by  closing  the  river  with  an  esta- 
cade  or  chain  of  heavy  timbers.  All  this  done,  T  feel  sure 
they  would  have  either  to  abandon  Pupo,  or  allow  them- 
selves to  be  blockaded  without  the  necessity  of  a  siege.  If 
left  alone,  however,  they  will  become  inexpugnable,  especial- 
ly if  the  Uchises  declare  for  them,  which  they  will,  on  seeing 
our  indifference  and  inaction. 

For  this  undertaking,  we  have  here  the  men  of  the  eight 
companies,  and  tliose  of  the  fort,  462  in  all  excluding  the 
detachment  of  Apalachee,  80  men ;  in  addition,  we  have  60 
militiamen,  40  free  negroes,  and  50  Indians,  as  appears  from 
the  return  herewith.  These  men  are  sufficient.  I  take  it, 
only  to  make  the  river  sure.  But  with  Your  Excellency's 
consent,  we  could  receive  here  (in  order  that  regulars  might 
not  be  wanting  where  of  most  importance)  100  militiamen, 
100  mulattoes  and  100  negroes,  the  entire  disposition  of  this 
dependency  remaining  in  Your  Excellency's  hands  with  re- 
spect to  the  stores  that  Your  Excellency  might  send  for  the 
subsistence  of  all,  seeing  that  we  depend  entirely  for  these 
upon  your  city,  and  that  without  them  we  can  do  nothing. 

Our  unfortunate  failure  to  take  a  single  prisoner  de- 
prives me  of  the  power  of  saying  to  Your  Excellency  ex- 
actly in  what  strength  they  are,  else  we  might  more  intel- 
ligently develop  this  idea  accordingly ;  but  I  believe  that 
whenever  they  see  our  armament,  they  are  compelled  to  re- 
gard it  as  very  strong,  and  that  they  must  not  expose  them- 
selves at  one  time  to  the  chances  of  risking  all  of  their 
forces. 

Should  Your  Excellency  think  it  safe  to  send  the  funds  for 
the  re-enforcements,  and  resolve  to  send  them,  I  beseech 
Your  Excellency  on  the  same  occasion  to  send  some  for 
continuing  the  work  on  the  castle,  for  the  amount  in  hand 
for  this  purpose  is  well-nigh  exhausted.  And  if  Your  Ex- 
cellency could  find  any  muskets  f9r  Indians,  or  if  it  were 
possible  to  get  them  from  Pensacola,  I  should  be  grateful 
to  Your  Excellency  for  the  favor  of  sending  me  as  many  as 
you  could,  for  I  have  none  to  give  them,  nor  the  courage  to 
cause  you  any  more  annoyance. 

Flr)rida.  25  March.  1740. 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  ^p 


Return  of  men  who  are  actually  available  in  the  Plaza  of 
Florida : 

Of  the  eight  companies.  .308  Of  the  militiamen 61 

Of  the  three  of  the  Place.  .080  Armed    Indians    50 

Of  the  artillerymen 032    Free  Negroes   40 

Of  the  cavalry 042  

151 

462  

Total 613 

No.  193. 
Sir: 

I  communicate  to  Your  Excellency  the  happy  arrival  on 
the  14th  instant  of  the  six  galliots  under  the  charge  of  Don 
Juan  Fandino,  and  Don  Francisco  del  Castillo,  for  sending 
which  I  offer  you  my  repeated  thanks.  At  the  same  time, 
I  have  to  say  to  Your  Excellency,  that  the  next  day  we 
mounted  broadside  guns  on  four  of  them,  made  a  foremast 
for  one  that  had  sprung  hers,  fitted  them  with  many  small 
parts,  and  repaired  all  the  arms. 

On  the  18th  two  English  frigates  came  in  sight  from  the 
north.  On  the  19th  at  dawn,  they  were  both  off  the  bar,  at 
the  same  point  of  the  compass,  remaining  in  that  neighbor- 
hood all  day,  and  sending  a  boat  for  water  to  the  vicinity  of 
the  point  and  coast  of  San  Mateo.  As  the  boat  was  resting 
on  its  oars,  the  flagship  fired  a  gun,  and  on  seeing  our  two 
launches  making  for  it,  fired  another  shot  and  withdrew. 

On  the  20th,  only  one  frigate  could  be  seen ;  at  dawn  it 
was  at  anchor  on  the  bar.  Being  encouraged  by  the  with- 
drawal of  one  of  the  frigates,  Don  Juan  Fandino,  Don  Fran- 
cisco del  Castillo,  and  the  Pilot  Don  Domingo  de  la  Cruz 
formed  the  plan  of  surprising  the  one  remaining  in  sight ;  and 
having  discussed  among  themselves  the  ease  with  which  we 
could  bring  about  its  surrender,  they  laid  the  matter  before 
me  with  so  much  assurance,  that  I  authorized  the  under- 
taking, with  the  stipulation  that  I  was  not  to  be  responsible 
for  failure.  On  the  night  of  the  same  day,  50  soldiers  and 
3  ofBcers  being  readv  to  set  out  in  the  six  galliots  and  the 
two  launches  well  armed,  it  happened  that  after  nightfall  the 
lighthouse  keeper  of  Santa  Anastacia  came  in  with  the  news 
of  having  discovered,  as  evening  fell,  a  sloop  to  the  north, 
which  induced  the  Captains  of  the  galliots  to  put  ofif  their  de- 
parture until  dawn.  Crossing  the  bar,  then,  at  dawn,  and 
seeing  that  the  frigate  was   alone   and  becalmed,   they  ap- 


50  Letters  of  Montiano 


preached  it  with  intrepidity  with  the  tirm  intention  of  board- 
ing it  in  the  beHef  that  it  mounted  only  i8  or  20  guns.  But 
discovering  that  it  had  according  to  some,  32,  according  to 
others,  3O  guns,  they  fired  on  it  about  two  hours ;  and  hav- 
ing failed  during  this  time  to  take  the  poop,  and  not  having 
brought  on  a  surrender,  and  the  wind  coming  on  to  blow 
out  of  the  east,  our  galliots  by  sail  and  oar  promptly  executed 
the  important  maneuver  of  getting  the  weather  gauge,  and 
so  made  a  lucky  retreat  by  way  of  Mantanzas,  and  thence 
along  the  coast  the  two  launches,  with  no  damage  other  than 
a  shot  of  no  consequence  in  one  of  our  galliots,  in  spite  of 
the  extreme  efforts  of  the  frigate  to  hug  the  coast  so  as  to 
embarrass  the  entrance,  firing  vigorously  but  without  result 
to  secure  this  end. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  if  the  boats  had  gone  out  the  same 
night,  and  no  warning  had  been  given,  as  was  the  case  from 
dawn  until  half  past  eight,  when  the  affair  began,  the  frigate 
would  have  been  either  surrendered  or  sunk ;  but  the  En- 
glishman manuevered  so  skilfully,  that  he  did  not  allow  them 
to  approach,  for  by  towing  out  his  ship,  he  kept  on  getting 
farther  away  and  getting  time  for  his  preparations ;  while 
our  people  were  exhausting  themselves  by  pulling,  and  when 
they  began  to  fire,  he  boldly  presented  his  broadside,  without 
giving  them  a  chance  at  his  poop,  and  so  in  spite  of  their 
various  manuevers,  they  never  got  it.  And  in  this  condi- 
tion they  fired  at  each  other  for  more  than  two  hours,  grape- 
shot  crossing  from  both  sides.  He  dismantled  his  entire 
cabin  to  mount  a  few  stern-chasers,  which  he  could  not  have 
had,  because  here  he  used  cabin  doors,  windows,  tables,  and 
other  pieces,  and  a  gun  port  carried  away  by  a  cannon  shot. 
They  say  he  had  a  large  crew  and  regular  troops  in  red 
uniforms. 

In  this  attempt  Don  Juan  Fandino  displayed  good  leader- 
ship and  valor  having  given  in  advance  the  orders  for  each 
man's  duties  in  an  honorable  retreat ;  Don  Francisco  de  Cas- 
tillo gave  proof  of  no  less  valor,  being  the  only  one  who  suc- 
ceeded in  attacking  the  poop,  and  firing  a  few  shots  into  it; 
he  received  14  shots  himself,  all  of  which  missed  him.  All 
the  other  officers  of  the  parties  and  of  the  garrison  distin- 
guished themselves  equally,  each  one  wishing  to  be  the 
first  to  board,  and  the  soldiers  and  sailors  no  less  valoriously 
cried  out  in  competition  "Let  us  board !"  The  artillerymen  of 
the  garrison  assure  me  they  did  their  duty  well,  and  made 
good  practice.     A  frigate  has  remained  constantly  in  view, 


Siege  of  St.  Augusline  5/ 


and  seems  to  be  the  one  of  the  affair  just  described ;  on  the 
24th  another  one  was  seen  from  Matanzas,  returning  proba- 
bly from  a  cruise  as  far  as  Cape  Canaveral.  We  do  not 
know  that  it  has  spoken  its  companion :  the  one  now  present 
seems  to  be  one  seen  from  Matanzas.  It  was  joined  on  the 
26th  by  a  despatch  boat  which  probably  came  to  report  what 
had  happened  to  the  other,  and  to  notify  it  to  keep  away 
from  the  coast,  so  as  not  to  be  becalmed.  According  to  all 
appearances,  they  are  going  to  keep  off  this  port  many  days. 
Florida,  April  27,  1740. 


No.   198. 
Sir: 

On  the  night  of  the  9th  inst.,  the  sloops  of  Marcos  de 
Torres,  and  ours  under  the  charge  of  Don  Domingo  de  la 
Cruz  left  this  port :  the  first  on  its  way  to  that  city  (Habana), 
the  second  having  the  colony  of  Guarico  as  its  destination, 
and  carrying  6  thousand  dollars  in  coin  to  be  laid  out  in  flour 
and  other  stores  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  this 
garrison.  Last  night  at  one  o'clock  a  soldier  arrived  here 
from  the  watch  on  the  bar  of  Matanzas,  with  sad  news  to 
the  efifect  that  Pedro  de  Echeverria,  the  master  of  the  said 
Marco  de  Torres's  sloop  had  come  to  that  point  (Matanzas), 
to  say  that  our  sloop,  at  dawn  of  the  loth  was  about  2  or  3 
leagues  beyond  the  bar  of  Mosquitoes,  and  close  to  a  frigaie 
carrying,  it  seemed  to  him,  40  guns.  The  frigate,  being  m 
shore  opened  fire ;  our  sloop  defended  itself  with  valor,  re- 
turning the  fire :  when  the  frigate  gave  chase,  and  drove 
our  sloop  aground  a  little  on  this  side  of  the  said  bar. 

On  the  loth  I  sent  Your  Excellency  by  way  of  Matanzas 
bar,  the  schooner  of  Bartilome  de  Espinosa,  with  the  sub- 
lieutenant Don  Joseph  de  Rivas  aboard  carrying  despatches, 
duplicates  of  which  are  inclosed,  setting  forth  the  desperate 
state  in  which  we  find  ourselves  through  lack  of  supplies. 
This  new  unhappy  occurrence  compels  rrie  to  lay  before 
you  the  fact  that  we  are  in  extreme  want,  without  food,  and 
besieged  by  sea.  For  as  there  are  on  this  bar  one  frigate 
and  a  despatch  boat,  seen  the  nth  and  12th,  and  another 
frigate  is  stationed  in  the  channel  off  Cape  Canaveral  on  this 
coast,  it  follows  infallibly  that  no  small  boats  sent  by  Your 
Excellency  can  reach  us.  Under  these  circumstances,  we 
have  decided  in  a  meeting  just  held  to  send  Your  Excellency 
a  galliot  with  this  news,  so  that  knowing  the  unhappy  ex- 


^2  Letters  of  Motitiauo 


tremity  to  which  we  have  come,  Your  Excellency  may  see 
fit  eagerly  to  succor  us  with  the  greatest  possible  amount 
of  supplies  in  vessels  strong  enough  to  cope  with  the  three 
on  our  coast,  for  in  no  other  way  do  I  see  any  help,  and  con- 
sequently an  irreparable  calamity  is  hanging  over  us. 

It  is  my  duty  to  tell  Your  Excellency  that  for  the  present 
this  will  be  the  last  despatch  on  our  unhappy  state  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  send,  because,  fearing  lest  the  English  intend 
assaulting  us  by  sea,  1  can  assure  Your  Excellency  that  I 
have  no  force  for  the  defense  of  this  bar,  and  that  of  Ma- 
tanzas.  other  than  the  galliots.  And  noting  that  against 
the  attack  of  any  small  boat  whatever  they  may  have  in  the 
Keys,  our  remaining  launch  is  insufficient,  we  have  used  one 
of  the  six  galliots  to  cross  over  to  that  port  (Habana)  and 
carry  our  melancholy  news. 

Through  authentic  reports  of  affairs  in  Apalachee,  Your 
Excellency  will  understand  that  in  order  to  keep  the  In- 
dians faithful  to  us,  or  at  least  prevent  them  from  joining 
either  side,  nothing  is  of  such  great  value  as  the  maintenance 
of  the  storehouse,  furnishing  all  necessaries  in  abundance. 
With  regard  to  both  of  these  points,  I  beseech  Your  Ex- 
cellency out  of  your  great  zeal  in  the  service  of  the  King, 
to  make  the  most  ample  provision,  to  the  important  end  of 
terminating  both  emergencies,  at  the  very  earliest  date,  see- 
ing tliat  in  its  present  state,  the  preservation  of  this  place 
depends  solely  on  the  succor  of  Your  Excellency,  because 
without  supplies  it  is  not  possible  that  we  shall  preserve 
our  lives. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  exaggerate  to  Your  Excellency  the 
agony  of  our  situation,  for  in  respect  of  the  amount  of  sup- 
plies in  hand,  and  of  the  fact  that  the  population  of  this  city 
exceeds  2,400,  Your  Excellency  will  easily  perceive  that  we 
most  urgently  need  help  at  the  first  possible  moment. 

Saint  Augustine,  in   Florida,  May  13,  1740. 

Postscript. 

I  omitted  to  say  to  Your  Excellency,  that  from  a  post  sent 
to  Apalachee  on  the  13th  of  April  to  find  out  the  state  of 
the  Uchises,  and  back  here  after  great  effect  on  the  loth  in- 
stant, by  reason  of  the  numerous  Indian  allies  of  the  English 
distributed  over  the  whole  country,  I  have  learned  that  an 
English  sloop  at  Cayo  de  Huesos*  gave  chase  to  Pablo  Rod- 

•  Kev  West. 


Siege  of  St.  Aug  upline  jj 


riguez  on  his  way  with  supphes  to  that  fort  (Apalachee) ;  that 
the  sloop  going-  aground,  and  so  being  unable  to  pursue  the 
other,  sent  against  Pedro  Rodriguez  an  armed  launch  with 
12  men  on  board,  among  them  several  Indians,  against  which 
he  defended  himself  with  his  two  stone-mortars,  and  es- 
copette,  and  succeeded  in  getting  clear,  although  wounded 
in  the  breast  with  a  musketball.  I  am  anxious  to  point  out 
to  Your  Excellency,  that  they  are  holding  even  that  coast, 
perhaps  to  cut  ofif  assistance  sent  to  Apalachee. 


No  200. 
Sir: 

At  this  hour,  being  seven  of  the  morning,  at  which  the 
galliot  was  just  about  to  sail,  there  arrived  two  men  of  Tor- 
res' sloop  with  the  news  that  the  English  who  took  our 
sloop,  have  put  a  crew  on  board,  and  have  posted  her  to  the 
leeward  of  the  bar  of  Penon  so  close  to  the  shore,  that  in 
the  quiet  and  silence  of  the  night,  conversation  aboard  can 
be  heard.  And  so  I  have  suspended  the  departure  of  the 
galliot,  and  have  arranged  to  send  a  Spaniard  and  three  In- 
dians in  a  small  canoe  to  the  Keys,  by  the  inside  coast  chan- 
nel, where  it  will  be  easy  for  the  Indians  to  take  the  little 
canoe  across  the  shoals  ;*  on  arriving  at  Biscayne  Key  or  at 
Matacumbe,  they  are  to  try  to  find  a  fishing  boat,  to  trans- 
port them  to  that  Port  (Habana)  or  failing  that,  to  ask  the 
Cacique  Don  Diego  to  undertake  this  important  matter,  to 
which  end  I  wrote  him  a  letter  of  direction  of  the  greatest 
affection,  because  they  set  great  store  by  these  friendly  dis- 
plays. I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say  to  Your  Excellency  that  un- 
less those  two  frigates,  the  despatch  boat  and  the  sloop  with- 
draw from  this  coast,  we  shall  be  unable  to  send  any  reports, 
so  long  as  strong  vessels  do  not  come  from  that  port  (Ha- 
bana), because  the  way  through  the  Keys  is  uncertain  and 
dangerous,  besides  which  there  are  but  few  Indians  in  those 
parts  with  whom  these  matters  can  be  carried  on.  While 
on  this  subject,  I  give  Your  Excellency  clearly  to  under- 
stand that  this  place  now  contains  no  other  resources  for 
its  subsistence  than  the  provisions  for  at  least  six  months, 
that  Your  Excellency  can  send  in  strong  vessels.     I  have 


«  Varaderos.    None  r,f  the  usual  meanings  of  this  word  applies  here.      Ii   may 
mean  "poi  tage."     Tr. 


j^  Letters  of  Moutiauo 


no  expedient  left  that  is  of  any  value  and  unless  help  can 
come  by  June  20  at  the  latest,  it  is  the  most  natural  thing  in 
the  world  that  this  garrison  perish. 

Saint  Augustine,  in  Florida.  !\Iay  15,  1740. 

In  this  letter  were  sent  duplicates  of  the  despatches  taken 
by  Don  Joseph  de  Rivas. 


No.  201. 
Sir: 

On  the  25th  ultimate,  1  sent  Your  Excellency  by  a  soldier 
of  this  garrison  and  three  Indians  of  the  coast,  the  news  con- 
tained in  the  duplicate  herewith.  One  of  these  Indians  re- 
turned on  the  4th,  with  three  gunshot  wounds,  and  the  news 
that  the  Indians  of  Mayaca  slew  the  soldier  and  two  of  his 
companions  at  Gega.  Since  then,  I  learn  in  addition  from 
a  foreman  of  Espinosa's,  that  while  his  master  and  some 
other  workmen  were  busy  at  San  Diego  on  field  works,  50 
Indian  allies  of  the  English  suddenly  surrounded  them,  firing 
a  volley  into  them,  and  so  killing  one  trooper  and  a  negro 
of  Espinosa's.  Nevertheless  the  others  managed  to  get  into 
the  fort,  except  a  negro  of  the  monastery  of  Saint  Francis, 
who  took  to  the  woods.  Him  they  consider  dead.  The 
Indians  having  failed  to  capture  anyone  withdrew.  These 
things  being  so,  I  took  the  resolution  of  sending  a  sergeant 
and  12  men  with  a  surgeon,  to  bring  back  the  wounded,  and 
if  necessary,  to  leave  some  people  as  reenforcement,  and  then 
return.  The  sergeant  not  having  returned  in  two  days,  I 
sent  a  corporal  of  cavalry  with  six  men,  to  discover  anything 
that  might  have  occurred  since  in  those  parts.  He  returned 
the  next  day,  saying  that  he  was  unable  to  reach  the  fort, 
the  enemy  by  spreading  out  far  and  wide  having  given  him 
no  chance.  Having  then  sent  out  other  scouts,  not  one 
brought  me  any  formal  news  as  to  whether  the  fort  was  tak- 
en, or  was  still  holding  out.  The  captains  were  then  called 
together  in  a  council,  and  it  was  resolved  to  send  a  detach- 
ment of  300  men  from  the  eight  companies,  from  three  of 
the  place,  militiamen,  Indians  and  negroes,  under  Captain 
Don  Miguel  de  Ribas,  Don  Fulgencio  de  Alfaro,  and  Don 
Pedro  Lambcrto.  with  four  galliots,  one  launch,  and  4  pi- 
rogues, to  transport  the  troops  and  carry  two  guns  in  case 
it  was  necessary  to  batter  the  fort,  demolish  a  side  of  it, 
rind  recover  or  succor  it.     But  the  captains  having  learned 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  jj 


that  the  enemy,  drawn  up  waiting  for  us,  was  much  superior 
in  numbers  to  our  detachment,  withdrew  to  this  place.  I 
have  since  learned  by  another  scout,  that  they  were  strength- 
ening the  fort.  And  others  who  frequently  reiterate,  say  that 
their  small  parties  are  at  a  league  from  here;  which  makes 
me  think  they  are  present  in  force,  and  that  they  are  es- 
tablishing storehouses  at  San  Diego  for  food  and  stores,  in 
preparation  for  the  siege  of  this  place.  1  am  persuaded  of 
this  too  from  their  having  shown  to-day  live  vessels  in  ad- 
dition to  the  two  that  have  now  been  watching  this  bar  and 
that  of  Matanzas  for  a  long  time.  With  this  news,  proof,  as 
it  were  of  a  siege,  I  am  compelled  to  report  these  occurren- 
ces to  Your  Excellency  by  the  launch  that  I  am  keeping  on 
the  bar  of  Mosquitoes  waiting  for  the  succor,  which  by  the 
same  launch  Your  Excellency  told  me  you  were  going  lo 
send.  For  informed  of  them,  and  of  the  desperate  strait  in 
which  this  garrison  finds  itself.  Your  Excellency  may  be 
good  enough  to  succor  it  at  the  earliest  moment  by  sen  ling 
strong  vessels  to  overcome  those  of  the  enemy.  I  dr)i:bt 
very  much  if  help  can  be  got  in  in  any  other  way,  or  if  we 
can  exist  much  longer  without  supplies,  shut  in  by  the  ene- 
my on  sea  and  land.  Although  the  vessels  so  far  seen  are 
seven,  I  firmly  believe  that  the  Vizarra,  the  San  Juan  and 
the  Pingue  can  resist  their  force,  since  some  of  their  vessels 
appear  to  us  to  be  merchant. 

Saint  Augustine,  in  Florida,  June   ii,   1740. 

Postscript    to  the  letter  proper. 
Sir: 

I  am  so  occupied  with  business,  that  I  cannot  answer  \  >'ur 
Excellency's  letters  received  in  the  launch,  nor  others.  :'ns- 
wers  to  which  have  been  begun.  As  they  are  not  occupying 
the  bar  of  Matanzas,  there  yet  remains  a  means  of  succor, 
and  we  shall  there  make  all  possible  resistance  with  tlu'ee 
galliots  and  land  troops. 


No.   202.* 

Sir:  .      •  u       • 

Considering  that  in  case  this  arrives  m  time  to  be  o;  nnv 
benefit.  Your  Excellency  may,  after  reflection  upon  its  con- 
tents, take  the  most  suitable  measures,  I  give  notice  tint  the 

*  Translation  from  Southern  Quarterly  Review,  AT^ril.  1S44.  p.  406.  an>1  usp.I  l.cre 
after  many  corrections  and  alterations.    Tr. 


5<5  Letters  of  Montiano 


enemy  remains  stationed  on  this  bar,  and  on  that  of  Ma- 
tanzas,  and  is  in  possesion  of  the  Island  of  Santa  Anastacia, 
and  its  watch-tower,  of  all  the  beach  of  San  Mateo,  and 
maintains  a  camp  at  the  village  of  Moze.  The  ships  block- 
ading us  are  seven  frigates  of  23  to  30  guns,  two  packets  of 
10  or  12  guns,  three  sloops,  six  schooners,  and  twelve  scows 
exclusive  of  boat,  and  launches  belonging  to  the  vessels. 

At  this  moment,  which  is  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  they 
have  opened  with  a  mortar  firing  large  shell  (granadas  reales) 
a  few  splinters  of  which  have  fallen  into  the  fort,  but  most 
of  them  have  passed  over  the  lines,  and  beyond  them, 

I  assure  Your  Excellency  that  it  is  impossible  to  express 
the  confusion  of  this  place,  for  we  have  here  no  protection 
except  the  fort,  and  all  the  rest  is  open  field.  The  families 
have  abandoned  their  houses,  and  come  to  put  themselves 
under  protection  of  the  guns,  which  is  pitiable,  though  noth- 
ing gives  me  anxiety  but  the  want  of  provisions,  and  if  Your 
Excellency  for  want  of  competent  force,  cannot  send  relief, 
we  must  all  indubitably  perish.  With  this  information,  I 
am  assured  Your  Excellency  will  excuse  the  hyperboles  in 
which  the  conflict  we  are  in,  may  be  portrayed,  and  I  hope 
every  attention  will  be  given  to  measures  conducing  to  re- 
lieve this  eminent  peril,  as  a  matter  of  such  moment,  and  of 
the  first  service  to  the  King. 

St.  Augustine,  in  Florida,  24th  June,   1740. 


No.  203. 
Sir: 

On  the  24th  ultimate,  I  sent  Your  Excellency  by  way  of 
Apalachee  an  accurate  account  of  the  siege  by  sea  and  land 
of  this  place  by  the  English,  a  duplicate  of  which  I  enclose. 

*I  have  now  to  inform  Your  Excellency,  that  at  eleven 
o'clock  on  the  night  of  Saturday  the  25th  of  June,  I  sent  out 
from  this  garrison,  300  men  to  make  an  attack  on  the  fort 
of  Moze,  which  was  executed  at  day-break  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing. Our  people  swept  over  it,  with  such  impetuosity  that 
it  fell,  with  a  loss  of  68  dead,  and  34  prisoners. 

I  have  ascertained  that  the  garrison  of  this  place,  consisted 
of  140  men  according  to  some  of  the  prisoners,  and  of  170 
according  to  others.     It  was  composed  of  one  militia  com- 


•  This  extract  is  to  be  found  in  Southern  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  1844,  p.  406; 
it  is  used  here  with  many  corrections  and  alterations. 


Siege  oj  St .  A  ugusline  ^j 


pany  of  Scotchmen,  70  men,  including  officers,  of  15  infantry 
40  horsemen,  and  35  Indians,  Yaches  and  Uchices,  with  a 
white  man  for  chief.  This  detachment  or  garrison  was 
commanded  by  Colonel  (Palma)  who  with  one  of  his  sons 
was  evidently  left  dead  in  the  action.  An  Indian  prisoner 
affirms  positively  that  he  saw  Colonel  Palma  dead,  and  his 
head  cut  off.  He  further  infers  that  both  of  his  sons  were 
dead,  though  he  did  not  see  them  dead ;  because  he  saw  their 
hats  in  the  hands  of  our  people;  of  whom  ten  have  died, 
among  them  the  Ensign,  Don  Joseph  de  Aguilera.*  The 
affair  being  terminated,  I  ordered  the  fort  to  be  demolished, 
and  the  dead  buried.  From  such  investigation  as  I  have 
been  able  to  make  among  the  prisoners,  I  have  acquired  the 
following  news.  Three  or  four  prisoners  agree  in  saying, 
that  both  by  rumor  and  by  gazette,  they  have  learned  of  the 
preparation  in  England  of  a  considerable  expedition  against 
Havana,  consisting  of  30  ships  of  the  line,  and  of  a  landing 
party  of  10,000  men — and  I  am  sending  this  despatch  to  give 
you  this  information  as  possibly  of  great  importance  to  the 
service  of  the  King.  , 

Of  the  armament  besieging  us,  the  prisoners  say  it  is 
composed  of  7  frigates,  one  of  50  guns  from  Bermuda,  anoth- 
er of  40,  another  of  2J,  and  the  rest  of  20;  the  number  of 
despatch  boats,  bilanders,  or  of  other  small  boats  they  do 
not  know.  They  vary  in  their  estimate  of  the  main  body 
of  troops,  some  putting  it  at  2,000  others  at  1,500,  or  1,200, 
and  still  others  at  900.  In  respect  of  batteries,  they  have 
brought  among  others,  three  bronze  i8-pounders  from  Car- 
olina. Up  to  to-day  they  have  made  no  assault,  but  it  would 
seem  that  by  reason  of  the  blow  at  Moze,  they  have  all  as- 
sembled on  the  Island  of  Santa  Anastacia,  where  they  have 
collected  eleven  small  mortars,  two  of  them  for  shells  of  half 
a  cjuintal,  and  the  other  9  for  smaller  ones.  With  these,  and 
one  other  larger  one  formerly  on  the  coast  of  San  Matheo, 
12  in  all,  they  fired  on  us  the  30  of  June,  from  6  in  the  even- 
ing, until  10  at  night. 

My  greatest  concern  is  for  supplies,  and  if  we  get  none, 
there  is  no  doubt  we  shall  die  of  hunger. 

*From  the  beginning  of  the  fire  up  to  this  day  they  have 
thrown  122  large  shell  and  31  small,  from  which,  glory  he 
to  God,  we  have  received  no  corporal   injury.     On  the   Ts- 


*  This  paragraph  and  the  next  may  be  found   in    Soiitliern    Onarterly    Review   of 
April,  1844,  p.  409. 


j8  Letters  of  Montiano 


land  of  Santa  Anastacia,  they  have  emplaced  a  battery  of  5 
guns,  three  of  18  and  two  of  6-pounders,  the  first  to  batter 
the  fort  and  town,  and  the  others  for  the  gaUiots,  and  with 
them  they  make  incessant  fire;  but  ours  answers  them,  and 
we  are  informed  that  they  receive  more  damage  than  our- 
selves. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  month,  after  beating  a  call,  they 
sent  us  a  white  fiag,  with  three  letters,  making  a  demand 
the  nature  of  which  Your  Excellency  will  perceive  by  their 
tenor.  Our  answer  Your  Excellency  will  learn  from  the 
enclosures ;  and  from  that  day  they  have  fired  with  increased 
vigor,  but  in  vain,  for  it  appears  that  God  has  given  greater 
accuracy  to  our  fire. 

My  outposts  have  found  four  more  men  killed  in  the  af- 
fair of  J\Ioze,  two  of  them  white,  the  others  Indian. 

From  a  deserter  that  arrived  here  on  the  14th  ultimate, 
we  learn  that  General  Oglethorpe  brought  900  men,  300  of 
his  regiment  of  regulars,  and  600  Carolina  militia ;  that  it 
was  unknown  if  others  would  come  to  him  from  Virginia  or 
other  parts ;  that  the  Carolina  militia  came  supplied  for  four 
months.  But  the  prisoners  of  Moze  say  that  even  if  neces- 
sary to  remain  one  year  before  this  place.  General  Ogle- 
thorpe will  do  it,  until  he  subdues  it. 

Saint  Augustine,  in  Florida,  July  6,  1740. 

No.  204. 
Sir: 

From  a  deserter  crossing  over  from  the  island  of  Santa 
Anastacia  I  have  just  learned  that  the  frigates  of  the  squad- 
ron are  six  in  number,  the  flagship  of  40  guns,  and  two  hun- 
dred men ;  and  the  remainder  of  20  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  The  deserter  declared  he  had  not  been  on  board 
of  any  of  them,  but  that  he  had  got  his  account  from  some 
sailors  with  whom  he  had  talked.  I  send  this  to  Your  Ex- 
cellency to  weigh  any  significance  it  may  have ;  so  that,  with 
reference  to  it,  and  to  the  statement  of  the  prisoner  that 
there  was  a  frigate  of  50  guns  from  Bermuda,  and  another 
of  40  or  origin  unknown  to  him,  Your  Excellency  may  draw 
the  conclusion  that  seems  l^est  to  you,  premising  that  when 
the  said  prisoner  made  this  remark,  he  said  he  had  not  seen 
the  50-gun  frigate  but  that  a  frigate  having  anchored  before 
the  Ijar  of  St.  John's,  the  General  told  them  she  was  from 
Bermuda  and  carried  50  guns. 

Saint  Augustine,  in  Florida,  July  13,  1740. 


Siege  of  St.  Augusline  59 


No.  205.* 
Sir: 

On  the  6th  of  the  present  month  1  informed  Your  Excel- 
lency, by  the  Adjutant  Don  Juan  Jacinto  Rodriguez,  of  what 
had  then  occurred.  On  the  night  of  the  day  subsequent,  (the 
7th  of  July,)  Louis  Gomez  arrived  at  this  place,  with  intel- 
ligence that  he  left  within  the  bar  of  Mosquitoes,  three 
sloop,  one  small  sloop,  and  two  schooners,  with  provisions 
sent  by  Your  Excellency,  in  charge  of  Juan  de  Oxeda,  and 
addressed  to  the  Captain  Don  Manuel  de  Villasante.  The 
pleasure  with  which  I  received  this  news,  is  indescribable ; 
but  the  joy  subsisted  but  a  short  time  in  my  heart ;  for  I 
was  also  informed,  that  when  Pedro  Chepuz,  and  the  French 
sloop  in  which  he  came  as  pilot,  arrived  of¥  this  bnr,  he  was 
seen  and  chased  by  an  English  ship,  and  packet,  which  did 
no  harm,  but  got  notice  of  our  provisions,  and  of  their 
v.'hereabouts.  At  the  same  time  came  a  deserter  from  the  en- 
emy's camp,  who  said  that  on  some  night,  during  spring  tides, 
it  was  the  intention  of  General  Oglethorpe,  to  mrike  an  at- 
tack on  this  place  by  sea  and  land.  On  this  I  suspended  the 
execution  of  the  plan  I  had  fixed  on  for  bringing  the  pro- 
visions, little  by  little,  and  applied  myself  entirely  to  the  pur- 
pose of  resisting  whatever  attempts  his  pride  and  arrogance 
might  undertake ;  but  the  days  of  opportunity,  passed,  with- 
out his  executing  his  idea,  and  I  turned  my  eyes  upon  our 
relief  vessels,  v»'hich  were  manifestly  in  danger.  Using  only 
the  launches  and  the  boat,  we  carried  on  the  work  of  un- 
loading and  transporting  to  this  place ;  for  although  I  also 
seni;  with  them  a  pirogue  of  considerable  capacity  for  the 
same  purpose,  it  so  happened  that  on  making  that  bar,  four 
boats  and  launches',  one  frigate  and  a  despatch  boat  crossed 
their  path,  separating  themi  and  attacking  the  small  ones. 
But  our  people  defended  themselves  stoutly,  from  four  of 
the  afternoon  until  nightfall,  suffering  only  the  loss  of  our 
pirogue,  which  splintered  itself  against  the  launches ;  the 
crew  having  shifted  over,  they  continued  their  journey,  and 
returned  happily  loaded  with  flour,  and  continued  their  task 
until  it  was  no  longer  necessary,  for  on  the  20th,  the  enemy 
having  raised  his  camp,  and  taken  to  hasty  and  shameful 
flight,  I  promptly  ordered  our  bilanders  after  making  the 
most  careful  inspection  to  see  if  the  pass  was  open  and  the 


*  Portions  of  this  letter  are  published  in  the  Southern  Quarterly  Review  of  Apiil, 

1844,  pp.  409,  410. 


6o  Letters  of  3/ontiaiio 


coast  clear,  to  resume  their  voyage  and  come  in  by  Matanzas, 
if  they  had  at  the  least  a  moral  certainty  of  safety.  This 
they  accordingly  did  on  the  25th ;  and  to-day  the  sloop  from 
Campeche  and  the  two  schooners  have  completely  discharg- 
ed their  cargo.  And  I  have  consequently  directed  Paloma- 
rez,  Captain  of  one  of  them,  to  prepare  to  take  this  news  to 
Your   Excellency. 

I  assure  Your  Excellency,  that  I  cannot  arrive  at  a  com- 
prehension of  the  conduct,  or  rules  of  this  General ;  for  I 
am  informed  by  at  least  twelve  deserters  from  him  present 
here,  that  his  camp  was  composed  of  370  men  of  his  regi- 
ment, 600  militia  of  Carolina,  130  Indians,  and  200  sailors 
armed,  and  encamped  on  the  Island  of  Santa  Anastacia,  and 
as  many  more  sailors  for  the  management  of  the  sloops, 
schooners,  and  launches.  My  wonder  is  inexpressible  that 
this  gentleman  should  make  his  retreat  with  such  precipi- 
tation, as  to  leave  abandoned,  four  6-pounders  on  the  bat- 
tery on  the  point  of  San  Mateo,  one  schooner,  two  kegs 
of  gunpowder,  several  muskets  and  escopettes,  and  to  set 
fire  to  a  quantity  of  provisions,  such  as  boxes  of  bacon, 
cheese,  lard,  dried  beef,  rice  and  beans,  to  a  schooner,  and 
to  an  excellent  mortar  carriage ;  besides  many  things  that 
have  profited  the  Indians,  and  galley  slaves  who  have  had 
the  fortune  to  pick  up  several  barrels  of  lard  and  flour,  and 
some  pork.'-"  Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  can  assure  Your 
Excellency  that  all  the  deserters,  and  two  squaws  of  ours, 
prisoners  of  theirs  that  escaped,  agree  in  saying  that  Don 
Diego  Oglethorpe  is  going  to  reorganize  his  forces,  and 
make  a  great  effort  to  stir  up  the  Indians.  And  although 
I  appraise  this  rumor  as  something  to  placate  and  leave 
in  doubt  his  people,  moderating  the  fire  that  may  be  burning 
among  them,  and  especially  the  Carolinians  and  Scotchmen 
as  having  Ijeen  the  hardest  hit,  yet  I  believe  there  would  be 
no  harm  in  taking  precautions,  and  in  Your  Excellency 
sending  me  such  reenforcements  as  may  be  suitable,  and 
the  munitions  and  stores  as  set  forth  in  memorandum  here- 
with. I  shall  send  a  post  at  once  to  the  Uchises,  to  draw 
them,  in  view  of  all  this  news,  from  their  allegiance  to  the  En- 
glish, and  I  shall  ofTer  to  treat  them  handsomely  if  it  will 
please  them  to  come  see  me. 


•This  paiaj^raph  corrected,  etc.,  may  be   fouml   in   Southtfrii    Quarterly    Review 
:oc.  dt. 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  6i 


The  formal  seige  has  continued  38  days,  counting  from 
the  13th  of  June,  to  the  20th  of  July,  and  the  fire  of  the  bat- 
teries and  bombardment  27  days,  from  the  24th  of  June,  to 
the  said  20th  of  July.  The  batteries  were  three;  one  in  the 
pool  on  the  Island  of  Santa  Anastacia,  of  four  i8-pounders 
and  one  9-pounder ;  another  on  the  point  of  the  hammock  on 
said  island,  of  two  i8-pounders,  and  the  other  on  the  coast 
of  the  interior  part  of  the  point  San  Mateo,  of  seven  6- 
pounders,  five  of  iron,  and  two  of  brass.  The  mortars,  and 
small  mortars  were  thirty-four,  two  mortars  throwing  shell 
of  half  a  quintal,  and  two  others  of  about  a  quintal.  The 
thirty  small  mortars,  which  the  deserters  call  cow  horns,* 
were,  some  small  hand  grenades,  and  others  for  those  of  ten 
or  twelve  pounds. 

The  loss  we  have  suffered  is  reduced  to  two  men  killed, 
and  wounded.  Those  (wounded)  by  gun  fire  who  died  were 
.  .  artilleryman  and  the  convict,  son  of  Ordonez,  whom 
with  the  other  one  named  Contreras  I  received  in  the  first 
launch-loads  from  Mosquito.  Of  the  other  two  wounded 
by  shellfire,  to  wit,  a  soldier  and  a  negro,  the  negro  is  per- 
fectly well,  and  the  other  has  a  good  chance  of  pulling 
through,  though  with  one  leg  fewer. 

The  constancy,  valor  and  glory  of  the  officers  here  are 
beyond  all  praise ;  the  patriotism,  courage  and  steadiness  of 
the  troops,  militia,  free  negroes,  and  convicts,  have  been 
great.  These  last  I  may  say  to  Your  Excellency,  have 
borne  themselves  like  veteran  soldiers.  I  especially  com- 
mend their  humble  devotion,  for  without  ceasing  work  by 
day,  they  have  persevered  by  night  with  the  care  and  vigi- 
lence  of  old  soldiers. 

Even  among  the  slaves  a  particular  steadiness  has  been 
noticed,  and  a  desire  not  to  await  the  enemy  within  the  place 
but  to  go  out  to  meet  him.  In  short,  I  have  been  thoroughly 
satisfied  with  all  during  the  siege,  and  especially  with  the 
circumstance  that  during  the  entire  siege  no  one  has  de- 
serted. And  lastly,  Your  Excellency  may  believe  that  the 
galliots  have  been  of  great  service  to  me:  for  if  the  siege 
had  caught  me  without  them,  the  English  would  have  given 
me  much  work  to  do,  as  the  launches  could  have  been  used 
for  nothing  but  the  guard  of  this  port,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
necessity  of  taking  other  indispensable  measures,  at  great 


•The  name  of  the  mortar  is  Coehoru,  from  the  inventor.  As  pronounced  it 
sounded  to  Don  Manuel  like  cow  horn,  and  he  accordingly  so  translates  into  his  own 
speech,  cuemos  de  vaca.    Tr. 


62  Letters  of  Montiano 


cost.  And  so  I  renew  my  thanks  to  Your  Excellency  for 
having  sent  them  to  my  relief,  even  against  the  common 
opinion  of  the  entire  torrent  of  members  of  the  Jimta  held 
by  you  to  decide  vi'hether  or  no  they  should  be  sent. 

On  the  return  of  the  boats  under  the  charge  of  Don  Juan 
de  Ojeda  I  shall  write  at  length  to  Your  Excellency :  to-day 
I  can  do  no  more  than  send  this  great  news  by  the  ship- 
master Palomares. 

Saint  Augustine,  in  Florida,  July  28,   1740. 

Postscript. 
Sir: 

All  the  12  English  deserters  say  in  confirmation  of  one 
another  that  General  Oglethorpe  has  gone  for  reenforce- 
ments,  with  the  intention  of  returning  upon  this  place  next 
spring.  Although  I  do  not  believe  that  the  settlers  of  Car- 
olina will  give  more  help  on  account  of  the  vexation  and 
annoyances  of  this  campaign,  yet  his  authority  and  restless 
spirit  may  move  them,  as  well  as  the  numbers  he  is  said  to 
expect  from  Europe,  according  to  some,  two  thousand,  to 
others,  two  regiments.  Relative  to  this,  Your  Excellency 
may  consider  the  best  measures  to  put  this  place  in  a  new 
state  of  defense,  lacking  as  I  do  more  than  the  remaining 
300  rien,  on  account  of  the  losses  encountered  at  Pupo, 
San  Diego,  the  sloop,  the  sortie  of  Moze,  and  of  Indian 
prisoners  and  killed. 

The  enemy  spread  the  news  that  on  their  retreat  they 
would  burn  the  fort  of  San  Diego,  and  that  of  Pupo.  But 
the  latest  deserter  says  that  General  Oglethorpe  is  going 
to  construct  a  battery  of  6  guns  at  the  entrance  of  the  Saint 
John's  on  the  other  side,  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  galliots, 
and  in  order  to  maintain  Pupo.  All  the  others  declare  that 
it  was  his  intention  to  withdraw  with  his  entire  regiment 
(nov.-  of  378  men  out  of  600  it  originally  contained)  to  the 
fort  of  Federico,  and  fortify  himself  there,  abandoning  the 
remaining  forts  he  has  in  other  islands.  Other  deserters 
have  said  that  their  general  was  going  over  to  London  for 
fresh  reenforcements.  Should  the  war  continue,  we  m.ust 
take  measures  to  oppose  his  plans. 

The  fort  at  San  Diego  was  abandoned  without  being  burn- 
ed, reported.  Luckily  for  us,  no  shelll  fell  within  the  fort, 
hut  their  guns  injured  our  parapets. 

This  was  the  moment  to  exterminate  General  Oglethorpe 
with  his  regiment  and  force  him  out  of  Georgia,  with  forces 


I 


'y--''  F 


■^^'A^     "vn  ^  'V. 


/    /V../.V 

I  III, 


HAUJiOl  |<  ol  ,S:Ai;< 


01 


fr<mi 


■'I  il>, 
H»(;//TU().V(H'H.\n/.K,(,r/,OKI))l 


Ill<;/IT||ONIMFIAII1.K,I„I,0«DI 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  6j 


but  little  stronger  than  those  I  have  here,  for  his  troops  are 
discontented,  and  he  would  get  but  little  help  from  Carolina 
by  reason  of  the  same  discontent,  and  fear  of  their  negroes. 

So  far  the  French  sloop  has  been  una]:»le  to  enter,  nor 
have  1  seen  anyone  other  than  Monsieur  Paran.  1  have 
appointed  to-morrow  for  an  interview  with  them. 

In  the  latest  orders  but  one  from  the  capital,  I  received 
one  forbidding  the  supply  of  stores  from  any  foreign  colony, 
on  account  of  a  mistake  here  over  the  admission  of  Beuavides 
of  a  schooner  in  a  time  of  scarcity.  But  in  the  latest  ones, 
received  by  me  with  Don  Juan  del  Canto,  to  whom  Your 
Excellency  entrusted  them,  the  King  directs  me  to  supply 
myself  in  the  French  colonies,  which  authority  permits  with- 
out any  misgiving  the  contract  made  by  you,  to  which  I  fully 
accede,  although  the  price  of  flour  is  high,  and  we  shall  try 
to  cut  it  down  as  much  as  possible. 

I  have  been  most  anxious,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  troops 
(I  can  not  set  forth  to  Your  Excellency  their  valor,  steadi- 
ness and  sufifering  under  our  continuous  labor)  relieved  me 
in  great  part.  In  the  midst  of  such  great  dangers,  gossip 
ran  riot. 

Don  Antonio  Salgado,  who  commanded  the  sortie  on 
Moze,  acted  like  a  true  officer,  profiting  by  their  discharge 
to  take  them  disarmed,  as  it  were ;  on  which  he  entered  the 
work  in  safety,  and  overthrew  them,  although  the  fort  is 
capable  of  much  resistance. 

This  afifair  destroyed  the  settlement  of  Scotchmen  and 
people  in  whom  Oglethorpe  had  complete  confidence.  Al- 
though the  matter  is  common  property  here,  I  inform  Your 
Excellency  confidentially  that  Fanclino  is  not  fit  to  command 
the  galliots,  and  on  the  contrary  all  the  other  captains  are, 
because  he  has  been  remiss  in  obeying  my  orders,  and  could 
with  but  little  risk  have  dismounted  "their  principal  battery, 
and  the  last  day  have  prevented  the  escape  of  some  of  the 
English  vessels,  and  other  good  tilings,  and  it  is  well  that 
Your  Excellency  should  know  this. 

The  garrison  sloop  only  took  six  thousand  dollars  on  gar- 
rison account  and  the  eight  pickets,  and  a  few  *  groups  of 
people  from  the  underbrush  but  it  is  the  habit  here  to  aug- 
ment evervthinsf. 


*  Encoynie  ml  ilia  s  de  particular  e  depocamonte.  Precisely  what  is  meant  by 
these  words  is  not  clear.  Encomiendilla  is  a  diminutive  of  enconuenda,  on  which  as 
an  instiUition,  <te  Foreman  "The  Philippine  Islands,"  y-  edition,  p.  211,  and  also  De 
Morga  "The  Philippine  Islands,"  pu.  323.  3^5,  London,  printed  for  the  Hakluyt 
Society,  1868.    The  reference  of  the  ei.lire  passage  is  obscure.     I'r. 


64  Letters  of  Montiano 


A  few  of  our  prisoners  have  returned  hither  from  the 
camp  and  from  the  boats  of  the  EngHsh,  and  speak  ill  of  Don 
Domingo.     I  marvel  at  this  greatly,  but  the  signs  are  bad. 

May  God  preserve  our  judgment,  and  Your  Excellency's, 
as  is  mv  wish. 


No.  207. 
Sir:     , 

On  July  28,  I  sent  or  had  ready  the  report  sent  to  Your 
Excellency  in  a  letter  of  that  date,  and  reduced  to  the  state- 
ment that  on  the  20th  of  the  same,  the  enemy  raised  the 
siege ;  and  that  on  account  of  the  presence  or  station  of  a 
frigate  and  despatch  boat  to  the  south  on  this  coast,  the 
entrance  of  the  sloops  and  schooners  with  supplies  could 
not  be  made  before  July  2^.  I  now^  have  to  tell  Your 
Excellency  that  Palomares  failed  or  was  unable  to  sail, 
through  his  carelessness  and  neglect  before  Sunday  the  31. 

To-day,  August  3,  I  have  received  Your  Excellency's  prin- 
cipal letter  entrusted  to  Don  Juan  Ruiz  del  Canto  who,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  the  foregoing  letter  included  herewith, 
tells  me  that  he  had  remained  in  his  cabin :  and  with  regard 
to  Your  Excellency's  advices,  in  it,  to  the  effect  that  Your 
Excellency  is  preparing  the  frigate  Sta.  Catarina  under  the 
command  of  Don  Joseph  de  Herrera,  two  other  frigates 
equipped  for  war,  two  transports  and  a  sloop  with  stores. 
I  have  sent  out  the  boat  to-day,  to  take  station  with  11  men 
on  the  bar  of  Mosquitoes,  in  order  to  give  the  necessary 
notice  of  the  state  of  this  place  to  the  said  Captain  Don  Jos- 
eph de  Herrera,  and  so  that  at  the  proper  time  Bartolome 
de  Espinosa  may  set  forth  to  bear  to  Your  Excellency  a  du- 
plicate of  the  report  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  Generals  Ogle- 
thorpe and  Pierse.  I  have  so  far  not  yet  received  positive 
news  that  the  enemy  has  withdrawn  from  San  Juan,  although 
the  latest  deserters  have  assured  me  that  they  were  to  em- 
bark on  the  coming  Friday,  5th  instant.  To  the  end  of 
verifying  this  news,  and  that  of  their  having  sent  a  few 
launches  to  take  up  the  guns  at  Pupo  and  demolish  it,  I 
am  kecj)ing  out  various  patrols  of  cavalry  and  Indians,  the 
principal  purpose  and  most  especial  charge  being  to  observe 
their  movements  in  order  to  guard  against  any  treacherous 
design,  seeing  that  I  had  received  a  verification  of  the  re- 
port that  they  were  maintaining  themselves  at  San  Juan,  with 
all  the  troops,  militia  and  smaller  boats. 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  65 


I  have  not  thought  it  proper  to  follow  the  rearguard,  be- 
cause of  lack  of  troops;  out  of  the  <  ight  companies  alone 
more  than  one  hundred  men  are  lacking.  The  troops  more- 
over are  worn  out,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  expose  this  place, 
in  a  matter  of  doubtful  issue,  to  late  ruin,  after  having  res- 
cued it  from  the  greatest  danger.  But  I  hope  finally  with 
the  disposition  and  assistance  of  Your  Excellency  to  chas- 
tise them,  and  give  them  an  exterminating  blow. 

As  this  despatch  must  go  promptly,  I  have  no  more  to 
report  to  Your  Excellency. 

Florida,  August  3,  1740. 

No.  210. 
Sir: 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  answer  Your  Excellency's  letters 
necessarily  laid  aside  on  account  of  my  pressing  duties. 
Besides  the  intelligence  given  by  the  two  and  twenty  desert- 
ers that  have  come  here,  to  the  effect  that  General  Ogle- 
thorpe has  circulated  the  rumor  that  he  means  to  return  id 
the  siege  of  this  place  within  four  or  five  months,  or  next 
spring,  they  add  that  he  will  cause  other  galliots  to  be  built, 
like  ours,  but  of  greater  burden.  And  although  it  appears 
impossible  to  me  that  the  said  Ogletorpe  should  repeat  the 
enterprise,  on  account  of  the  arduous  difficulties  he  will  en- 
counter in  bringing  the  settlers  of  Carolina  a  second  time 
to  his  way  of  thinking,  nevertheless  as  the  entire  system  of 
the  citizens  of  those  colonies  and  of  their  neighbors,  consists 
and  dwells  in  the  desire  to  capture  this  place,  the  reef  on 
which  ordinarily  they  break,  and  the  obstacle  to  the  course 
of  their  inhuman  and  haughty  plan  of  exterminating  the 
Indians  of  the  continent  of  Apalachee  and  its  confines  so  as 
to  occupy  all  these  provinces  without  let  or  hindrance,  it 
seems  logical  to  me  not  to  spurn  their  warnings,  because  it 
may  of  course  happen  that,  thoroughly  distrusting  the  con- 
duct of  Oglethorpe,  they  may  in  case  the  war  continue,  ask 
the  King  of  Great  Britian  to  commit  the  direction  of  af- 
fairs to  some  other  soldier  whose  conciliatory  character  may 
give  them  better  satisfaction.  If  this  happens,  as  is  possible, 
or  if  the  same  Oglethorpe  should  again  have  charge,  he  may 
succeed  in  bewitching  them  into  the  belief  that  another 
greater  expedition  is  necessary  against  this  place,  for  ob- 
viously we  must  assume  that  the  new  attempt  and  attack 
would  be  undertaken  with  double  forces  at  least.  And  if 
his  court  should  be  inclined  to  grant  the  two  regiments  or 


66  Letters  of  Montiano 


the  two  thousand  troops,  as  divulged,  because  of  the  advan- 
tage to  that  Crown  of  holding  this  province,  then  will  it  be 
most  necessary  to  send  equal  forces ;  for,  seeing  that  this 
place  is  an  open  country,  its  defense  should  be  guarded  more 
than  any  other  thing.  There  can  infallibly  be  no  other  worse 
nor  more  deplorable  condition,  than  our  reduction  to  the 
limits  of  the  fort ;  if  this  happens,  which  God  forbid,  it  is 
equally  infallible  that  we  could  not  exist  for  any  length  of 
time.  \Mthout  taking  into  consideration  any  other  reason 
or  principle,  the  sad  voices  and  tears  of  the  women  and 
children,  were  enough  to  distract  their  fathers  from  the  best 
laid,  logical  plans.  I  keep  in  mind  Your  Excellency's  grave 
preoccupations  with  the  defense  of  that  island  (Cuba),  beauti- 
ful woman  whom  all  nations  are  wooing,  but  1  also  be- 
lieve that  Your  Excellency,  zealous  in  the  ling's  service,  will 
make  a  special  study  of  coming  to  the  relief  of  this  place 
with  all  that  it  needs. 

In  a  circular  of  January  30  of  this  year,  sent  to  all  coun- 
cils of  the  cities  of  these  Indies,  the  King  especially  recom- 
mends the  defense  of  all  his  American  dominions,  offering 
at  the  same  time  to  send  troops  from  the  Kingdom  for  the 
making  of  a  more  vigorous  resistance.  But  if  it  should  hap- 
pen that  these  can  not  be  supplied,  either  by  reason  of  some 
serious  obstacle  by  sea  or  land,  or  for  any  other  good  reason, 
then,  in  obedience  to  my  duty,  and  to  the  reiterated  com- 
mands of  the  ;. ing  to  report  to  Your  Excellency,  I  must  set 
before  Your  Excellency  my  resources,  begging  for  whatever 
may  be  necessary  to  the  defense  of  this  place ;  because,  if 
the  war  continues,  I  am  under  the  necessity  of  asking  for  370 
infantrymen,  and  24  artillerymen.  During  the  siege  and  be- 
fore, and  counting  the  men  not  fit  for  duty,  the  troops  of  this 
garrison  and  of  the  reenforcements  were  reduced  by  this 
number,  there  remaining  of  the  former  only  116  fit  for  duty, 
and  of  the  latter  ony  240,  making  356.  As  both  corps  should 
amount  to  750,  350  of  the  old  garrison,  and  400  of  the  eight 
companies  of  the  reenforcements,  and  as  there  are  in  this  gar- 
rison no  more  than  356  between  the  two,  it  is  plain  that  I 
need  394  men.  just  the  number  T  am  asking  for,  and  having 
reference  to  the  terms  under  which  the  King  held  this  place. 
But  as  it  is  now  threatened  v^ath  the  most  furious  anger  rea- 
son of  the  damage  inflicted  upon  the  English  in  their  siege 
of  it,  it  is  my  duty  at  the  same  time  to  ask  Your  Excellency, 
should  the  war  continue,  for  300  armed  men  more,  mulattoes 
and  free  negroes  from  the  militia  of  Cuba.     T  regard  it  as 


Siege  of  St  Augustine  67 


important  to  tlie  best  and  most  useful  service  of  the  King, 
that  in  the  agreement  made  to  this  end,  it  be  stipulated  and 
arranged  with  them,  that  they  are  to  do  armed  duty  when 
necessary,  and  manual  labor  all  the  time,  these  being  the 
two  purposes  they  must  understand  they  are  coming  for. 
But  if  this  should  appear  to  Your  Excellency  to  be  too  heavy 
a  task,  an  agreement  might  be  reached  with  them  to  divide 
them  into  two  shifts,  giving  to  one  half  indulgence,  in  order 
to  have  them  work  for  weeks  or  months,  and  allowing  them 
to  employ  their  spare  time  in  rest  or  amusement,  or  in  the 
pursuit  of  anything  that  might  appeal  to  the  intelligence  of 
each  one. 

And  if  Your  Excellency  could  send  them  armed,  it  will  be 
and  is  of  significance  to  the  King's  service,  there  being  no 
one  here  to  perform  it,  because  this  is  now  a  Hospital.  At 
the  same  time,  I  must  point  out  to  Your  Excellency  that  it 
would  be  most  profitable  to  send  the  negroes  and  mulattoes 
at  the  very  first  opportunity  to  put  the  position  into  the 
proper  condition,  and  that  the  infantry  and  artillery  should 
be  here  by  December  20  of  this  year  at  the  latest. 

The  great  penetration  of  Your  Excellency  will  perceive 
from  these  terms,  that  the  King  can  impose  no  charge  upon 
me  without  my  recurring  to  Your  Excellency,  as  he  com- 
manded, for  all  that  is  necessary  to  put  this  place  in  the  con- 
dition His  Majesty  desires,  and  that  in  following  this  course 
1  am  discharging  my  obligation  in  obedience  to  the  royal 
orders  directing  me  to  apply  to  Your  Excellency  for  all  that 
the  custody  of  this  place  demands.  With  respect  to  all  this, 
I  believe  that  if  it  be  possible,  all  measures  will  promptly  be 
taken  to  send  me  the  succor  in  question :  and  that  if  it  be 
impossible  to  send  the  number  of  troops  and  militia.  Your 
Excellency  will  fully  satisfy  the  King  on  this  point,  and  I 
shall  have  fully  complied  with  his  sovereign  commands,  and 
no  one  can  caluminously  charge  me  with  omission,  indolence 
or  neglect. 

I  firmly  believe  that  Your  Excellency's  lofty  talents  will 
not  disavow  my  legitimate  and  just  petitions  in  behalf  of  the 
royal  principle  whence  they  flow;  and  that  if  the  King  des- 
tines troops  for  the  better  defense  of  this  place,  my  petitions 
would  still  remain  in  force;  for  His  Majesty  will  naturally 
count  upon  his  garrison,  and  upon  what  he  had  before  direct- 
ed to  be  sent,  because  he  will  think  that  his  directions  have 
been  obeyed. 

Florida,  August  7,  1740. 


6S  Letters  of  Montiano 


No.  248. 
Sir: 

After  learning  of  the  loss  of  the  Convoy  of  supplies  sent 
by  Your  Excellency  to  this  place,  in  the  brigantine  of  Andres 
Gonzales  and  the  sloop  of  the  King,  I  managed  successfully 
to  arm  the  Campeche  sloop  as  a  privateer.  It  went  out  the 
17th  of  October  and  having  captured  a  Carolinian  schooner 
sent  her  here  under  the  charge  of  Domingo  Quintana,  Don 
Juan  de  Hita,  tw^o  boys,  and  a  negro.  And  although  she 
came  to  the  entrance  of  this  port  six  days  afterward,  and 
our  launch  went  out  to  pilot  her  having  made  no  attempt  to 
speak  her,  as  neither  did  the  port,  since  she  was  going  to 
the  southward,  and  was  taken  for  an  Englishman,  she  with- 
drew, but  so  far  we  have  not  the  slightest  news  of  her.  We 
believe  either  that  she  must  have  been  lost  in  some  storm,  or 
that  three  Englishmen  she  had  aboard,  the  two  boys  and  a 
woman  were  killed  while  drunk,  as  the  first  were,  the  rest 
being  taken  asleep.  A  few  days  later,  Oglethorpe's  ser- 
geant major  was  captured,  and  through  bad  management  I 
lost  two  men,  one  killed  and  the  other  wounded  by  the  18- 
pounders  of  the  frigate  and  despatch  boat.  A  pink  was  cap- 
tured ofY  Carolina,*  on  its  way  to  Hamburg,  and  having  on 
board  over  nine  thousand  arrobas  (quarters)  of  rice,  which 
has  been  the  salvation  of  this  city,  because  from  the  28  of  Oc- 
tober when  she  came  in,  the  troops  and  entire  neighborhood 
have  lived  on  it,  baking  it  into  roscas  (ring-shaped  biscuits 
or  cakes).  The  said  Joseph  Sanchez  having  declared  that 
he  wished  to  leave  off  privateering  and  sell  his  sloop,  I  ar- 
ranged to  buy  and  arm  it,  rigging  it  anew  with  captured 
tackle,  to  the  satisfaction  of  Fandino,  who  it  was  suggested 
wished  to  go  privateering.  Equipping  it  according  to  his 
judgment,  and  leaving  him  freedom  of  action,  the  sloop  was 
fitted  out  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody  that  not 
even  from  the  ways  could  she  have  gone  forth  better  equip- 
ped. With  80  men  picked  out  by  him,  the  50  of  the  gal- 
liots, and  30  from  this  place,  and  a  sergeant  and  six  soldiers 
he  asked  for,  she  hoisted  sail  on  December  3  with  a  good 
wind,  and  on  the  5th  at  dawn  found  herself  on  the  bar  of 
Carolina*  itself,  although  it  was  his  intention  to  station  him- 
self off  Cape  Ferro,  out  of  sight  of  land ;  but  finding  himself 
so  near  to  Carolina,*  as  well  as  to  the  pilot  on  the  bar,  he 
captured  him.     Keeping  in  view  at  the  same  time  a  priva- 


•  Charleston. 


Siege  of  St.  Augustine  6g 


teering  sloop  which  had  just  left  the  port  on  its  way  to  Ja- 
maica, the  two  privateers  closed,  and  according-  to  the  report 
of  three  men  succeeded  in  bringing  the  launch,  went  ofif  to- 
gether cannonading  each  other ;  from  time  to  time  there  was 
musketry  fire.  The  men  say  they  were  unable  to  follow  their 
privateer  and  fearing  lest  the  Englishman  should  capture 
them  if  he  tacked,  they  tried  to  make  the  coast.  The 
EngHshman  was  seen  to  tack  toward  the  land  and  returned 
to  his  port :  our  ship  was  lost  to  view  standing  out  to  sea. 
Before  going  aboard,  Fandino  was  heard  to  say  he  would 
go  farther  north  because  now  they  were  discovered  in  those 
parts. 

The  three  men  who  brought  in  the  launch  (which  re- 
sembles our  boat  here  with  its  deck)  separated  from  the  pri- 
vateer with  only  two  ship  biscuit :  with  what  they  could  catch 
with  a  hook,  they  succeeded  in  arriving  safely.  A  little  ne- 
gro of  lo  or  12,  taken  in  the  launch  says  that  the  largest  and 
best  part  of  Carolina,  to  wit  the  houses  of  the  Mariyia  (water- 
front) has  been  burned,  the  fire  having  lasted  two  weeks ; 
that  the  powder  magazine  blew  up,  and  that  there  were  three 
mamiales  **  in  the  harbor. 

On  the  19th  a  schooner  much  larger  than  that  of  Muga- 
guren  anchored  on  our  bar,  captured  by  our  privateer  Fan- 
digo,  who  writes  me  from  Cape  Ferro  what  Your  Excel- 
lency may  see  in  copy  herewith.  Two  prisoners  sent  in 
her  bring  no  special  news  other  than  what  Your  Excellency 
may  get  from  the  declaration  they  made. 

On  the  29th  instant,  our  privateering  sloop  returned  be- 
cause the  crew  could  not  stand  the  rigors  of  the  winter, 
which  has  been  cruel.  Fandino  came  ashore,  and  told  me  of 
another  schooner  he  had  captured,  but  without  supplies,  only 
a  few  useless  things,  such  as  aguardiente,  honey-cakes,  and 
flag  stones ;  and  that  she  must  be  well  out  to  sea,  as  she  was 
caught  in  a  storm  in  the  Bahama  Channel.  The  captains 
of  the  two  schooners,  and  the  Carolina  pilot  whom  Fandino 
took  aboard  the  privateer,  and  whom  I  caused  to  be  examin- 
ed to-day,  have  no  more  news  to  give  than  the  short  paper 
of  the  said  29. 

Yesterday  we  caught  sight  of  an  English  frigate  seemingly 
of  20  to  24  guns :  to-day  it  has  remained  in  view  until  3  of 
the  afternoon.     Bearing  in  mind  Fandino's  performance  on 


**  I.  e.  men  o'  war.    See  note,  ante.    Tr. 


JO  Letters  of  Moniiano 


the  bar  of  San  Jorge,  I  infer  that  they  must  have  armed  one 
of  their  mayiiiales  to  pursue  the  privateer,  or  to  come  and 
wait  here,  as  it  were  to  hamper  the  entrance  of  the  boats 
saiHng  from  this  city.  With  reference  to  this,  if  on  receipt 
of  this,  there  should  be  some  strong-  boat,  capable  of  at- 
tacking this  one,  I  beseech  Your  Excellency  to  send  it,  to 
clear  the  coast ;  because  it  is  very  possible  they  will  be  chas- 
tised, and  from  the  fear  so  engendered,  will  not  so  lightly 
undertake  to  blockade  us. 

Florida,  Jan.  2,  1741. 
Postscript. 

I  have  just  heard  that  the  Carolina  pilot  says  this  frigate 
was  to  leave  for  the  purpose  of  remaining  four  months  off 
this  port,  and  that  her  captain  had  so  promised  the  Parlia- 
ment. And  I  fear  lest  the  small  boats  missing  from  the  last 
shipment,  and  that  of  Escalera  may  fall  into  its  hands. 


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